Breaking Free
by Emerald-Latias
Summary: [Sequel to Locked Inside] Squall’s finally gotten rid of his past demons, but there’s one still left. When a predicament occurs, Rinoa fears the worst for Squall… and their relationship. [On indefinite hiatus.. Sorry guys!]
1. Chapter I – Temporary Innocence

**Breaking Free**

**Summary –** (Sequel to Locked Inside) Squall's finally gotten rid of his past demons, but there's one that still remains – the part of him that can't ignore how people judge him. When a predicament occurs and the he's the center of attention, the judgement of others intensifies and Rinoa fears the worst for Squall… and their relationship.

**Disclaimer** – I do not own anything from Final Fantasy 8, and this disclaimer will apply to any future chapters as well.

**Author's Note – **Hello again, surprised to see me writing so soon? It's okay if you are, I am too.

Well, since many of you who've read my last story couldn't wait to read something else of mine, I've decided to step up to the challenge and I'm going to do my best to deliver, and what better way than to making a sequel to _Locked Inside?_ Now, I admit that I **was **planning to make a humorous fic next, but I wasn't sure how you'd guys react to that, so I decided to continue on this plot. (If you wanted to know what I **was** going to do, just e-mail me – my address is in my profile.)

Before I go on, I'm going to answer the question that's probably floating around your heads already, and here it is:

_-No,_ they're **not** going to be stuck in another building together, and if I did that, all you'd be reading about would be about how they can't keep their hands off each other. I know that it isn't very Squall-like, but you got the main idea, right?

Okay, now that it's been all cleared, I'd better get on with the story. But I'd like to mention that for all of you people who _haven't_ read Locked Inside, you'll have to read it in order to follow with this one. Sorry!

…Anyways, here you go!

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**Chapter I – Temporary Innocence**

After being freed from his inner angst at last, and managing to finally clearly convey the words that he yearned to say for the longest period of time, the infamous anti-social Squall Leonhart now felt as if he was built anew. He no longer had his former infinite air of coldness surrounding him continuously, the scowl he'd adopted as a neutral facial expression had softened, and most importantly, the adolescent didn't feel no where near as burdened as he previously been. No more carrying the charges of hidden emotions, no bottled-up feelings, and he now had someone to make him feel loved and content. Those particular feelings for Squall sensed almost foreign at first, seeing as he hadn't experienced them for what felt like ages to him. But it didn't take very long to get re-accustomed to the two enriching sensations, however.

"Well, Squall, I should really be going…" Rinoa, the sole person responsible for his mental alteration, stated somewhat sombrely. However the other teenager wasn't ready to let her leave, not now at least.

'_I don't want you to leave, I… really need someone here. I can't be alone right away, please stay, just a bit longer…_'

Although he didn't repeat what he had thought, his actions spoke louder than words as he pulled her hand towards him when she turned to leave.

"Squall, you know I can't stay, your father might be here any minute - It's nearly seven. But, if it's possible, I'd like to do something with you tomorrow." She explained dolefully.

"…Actually my father won't be home until the next day." With that information being shared innocently, the previously dark mood had uplifted into more of a humourous one.

"I didn't know you were **_that_** antsy to _'do it'_." Rinoa playfully interpreted, using her fingers as quotation marks to emphasize the last part.

Although now he realized that what he said could be taken in more than one way, Squall was a little startled and slightly ticked off by her comments. He briefly wondered why all girls assume the worst if guys ask them to stay overnight, but regardless, he couldn't resist the hilarity in the warped context seeing as he was restraining a bit of a smirk.

A split second after that however, Squall's thoughts turned to a few weeks prior, notably on how much he's changed compared to almost a fortnight ago when he refused to accept that he needed to rely on others, even though it was indeed a losing battle inside his head.

'**_No, I'm fine by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I'm not a child anymore.' _**

'**_That's a lie. I don't know anything. I'm confused.'_**

'**_I don't want to depend on anyone. How can I do that?' _**

'**_Someone tell me...' _**

'**_Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all.' _**

'_I guess… I didn't turn out as self-reliant as I wanted to be… Even though it seems like I've lost that fight, I'll make sure that I don't become too reliant on Rinoa or anybody for that matter in case if… something happens. I don't want my life to be dictated by others in how it turns out. Maybe having the strength to handle possible situations like this might make me stronger rather than simply sheltering myself…Then again, it might make me weaker instead…_'

"What are you thinking about?" Rinoa inquired sweetly, nearly in a sing-song tone of voice. This knocked Squall out of his reverie rather effectively. No adequate response came fast enough as he was struggling to find some way to say something coherent to her.

"_Err…urm_, I was just…thinking about one of the things …that had happened when we were locked in… _That's all._"

"Squall, you have a lot to learn about being a boyfriend…" She continued light-heartedly, enlightening him furthermore. "…and about how to actually have some proper human contact."

The only part that seemed to strike hard in the pensive adolescent's mind in the overly-amusing drabble was the part him being considered as a 'boyfriend'. The notion never really came across before, but it changed certain patterns of thought automatically once he heard it spoken aloud. The particular thing that mainly came through was the idea of, '_Now, I have to start acting in her better interests, setting aside certain principles for this relationship to work… and make an effort to go that extra mile in some cases. …Goodbye privacy._'

"…Well, I'm learning.."

"On a different note, where am I going to sleep later tonight? I hope that it'll be your mess of a room."

Before answering, the sceptical male teenager made a brief, but poignant mental note on the subject, '_First you accuse me of wanting to sleep with you, and the next minute you're hoping that you'll hop in bed with me? Make up your mind! I swear; you'll make me go loopy some day Rinoa…_'

"Actually… I don't have a 'mess of a room', given that it's rather clean. But it won't concern you because you'll be sleeping on the bathroom floor."

"**_Ouch…_**" The girl in front of him squeaked. "Making jokes must not be something you're used to because that just came off as mean…"

Squall stood there transfixed, thinking about what he'd recently said in guilt… until she reassured him that she'd only been kidding. Then, she promptly asked for a second time where she'd be sleeping; still hoping that'd it would be in his room. He already knew that she'd be disappointed with the answer he'd originally thought of, and what he was about to say next.

"You'll be sleeping on the guest bed in the spare room. I have… no extra place for you in my room anywhere." Not one to give up, the raven-haired girl started to try to convince him to reconsider.

"Are you sure that's the reason? Because I've seen your bed and it's not that small." Rinoa noted, trying to sway his idea. But Squall was one step ahead and indeed **_had_** a valid reason to counter this outside from the continuous thought of,

'_This is going too fast for me…way too fast…_'

"I move in my sleep." He justified plainly.

"That wouldn't be much of a problem." She teased suggestively, although Squall knew at that moment that she wasn't being very serious. So he decided to take out the ultimate counteracting response to quell the joking once and for all.

"…and from I've been told, I also tend to kick people in my sleep as well." He added, rather smugly.

"Oh, I see your point now."

'_Checkmate._'

After their brief discussion for Rinoa's sleeping arrangements had concluded, the aforementioned girl took the conversation into a new topic - at least this one was more easily resolved.

"So then, what am I going to wear for my pyjamas?"

Squall unmistakably broke into a smile after hearing that remark.

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Later that night, around a little after midnight, both teenagers had finally decided to go and crash into their respective beds. Seeing as they- _or rather_ Squall wasn't sure what time Laguna was going to come home the next day, he figured that it would be wise if they didn't stay up too late. Regardless, there were only so many movies that they could have watched together before it became monotonous. Even though he was tired, Squall couldn't seem to rest his eyes just yet; things kept floating around in his brain although there really **wasn't **anything important to think about – Rinoa's sleeping attire issue was resolved already.

'_Was I being too harsh about refusing to let her in here? Probably not… I'm not completely ready to do something like that and besides, I know for a fact that I do kick people in my sleep._' He pondered while switching his black leather pants for his regular navy-blue cotton pyjama bottoms, and when we was about to take off the shirt he'd been wearing, something nagged at the back of his head.

'-_Better put on something a night shirt or something, who knows what she'll do while I'm asleep… Hyne, what's wrong with me? It's almost like I **want** her to do something while I'm asleep… Just to be safe, I'd better put on the white short-sleeve undershirt… It's a little cold in here anyways._'

After mentally debating with himself for a little while, Squall had finally gotten himself ready to go to bed. When he was under the faded-black covers, it was in a matter of a moment or two until he fell dead to the world in silent slumber.

Meanwhile, Rinoa was experiencing the opposite problem – she couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried.

"_Argh…_ This is getting very annoying, _very_ fast. _Why can't I sleep?_ I'm not the type to get restless like this and it's never happened before… I just wish that Squall would have let me in, I wouldn't have minded if he'd make me sleep on the floor but making up that he kicks people in his sleep was kind of weird – I've heard of moving while being asleep but never _kicking…_and why wouldn't he let me be with him? After all, I am his girlfriend. Maybe I can make him change his mind; I really don't want to be alone tonight…" She whispered very quietly to herself as if it were a nearly inaudible soliloquy.

Before she decided to tip-toe to Squall's room located on the spare room's left-hand side, she carefully took in account the present time.

"_Hmm…_ 12:36, he might still be up…" She murmured to herself in the large guest room. "Better knock either way…I wonder what he wears to bed. Ooh, I hope that it's just PJ bottoms…"

Taking each step as if the floor was a mine field and if any noise was considered a death trap, Rinoa sneaked out of the now-vacant guest room almost as if she were a skilled ninja. The only things that prevented her from attaining such class of stealthy proficiency was due to the door's unavoidable loud creaking when she attempted to open it slowly, and not to mention the occasional swishing of her makeshift, greatly oversized nightwear – Squall's out grown gym clothes.

At least it was very comfortable to wear.

Rapping at his door lightly, the fair-skinned female heard no indicator of welcoming or even refusal from the male dwelling within. Figuring that he was either ignoring her or possibly asleep already, she risked opening the door very noiselessly and cautiously. The latter was indeed the case as she didn't hear him move and when no pillows were flung in her general direction. After assuring that the situation was genuine, Rinoa inched closer to take the time to gaze upon the only visible part poking through the covers of her sleeping boyfriend's figure – his face.

"This is going to bug me if I don't do this now…" She incoherently mumbled to herself as her curiosity got the best of her.

The darkness confounded her senses a little as she used her digits to pull the covers slightly lower to answer her internal question. Rinoa flinched slightly and let go of the cover when his rhythmic breathing deepened while he turned over on his side; thankfully it was the opposing side, not facing the uninvited entrant. When she tried a little later, as soon as his position stabilized, her heart stopped momentarily as he reverted abruptly onto his backside again, and then quickly completed the movement by rolling onto his other side. A split second ensued and another brusque motion caused her to hold her breath once more, as he unconsciously put his head face-first into his pillow, followed with his arms securing it there on both contrasting edges of the fluffy apparatus.

"_At least he wasn't lying about moving in his sleep…_" The traumatized interloper thought aloud at whisper-level.

Convinced that he wasn't going to stir in the meantime, she attempted once more. She drew her dainty fingers to pluck away the sheets in the twilight's darkness until she assumed she had enough pulled away to see anything significant.

Although her vision was profusely marred by the lack of lighting, she was not prepared to risk turning on a lamp and being discovered in his supposedly-solitary quarters. As compensation for the deficiency, she intently focused her eyes furthermore, now used for tracing the outline, contours and distinguish the hues of his upper body. The result she received for wasn't a pleasing one; he'd been wearing a shirt to cover most of what she sought to see.

"Drat!" She exclaimed disappointedly, failing to restrain herself like the other times. The realization that all of her effort poured into an unnoticeable search had been for naught was enough to blind the need for discreetness and silence.

Oblivious to Rinoa, Squall had woken up when she'd shifted his blankets a bit on her third try, and **had** heard that last remark expelled from her. Putting two and two together wasn't hard at all and the actual hard thing was not to secretly smirk about it. Luckily she didn't see the broad smile plastered on his face, as that same face was primarily submerged into his cushion. This only lasted for a short while; until he resumed sleeping three seconds later.

"_Hmm… If he's sleeping, I doubt that he'd mind me staying here…you can't object when you're asleep anyways… Regardless, I worked too hard not to leave here empty-handed…_" The determined teen reasoned.

After such a thought, she prudently placed herself on the unused portion of his bed and calmly tugged the discoloured covers over her body; her dark brown eyes briefly took in the sight of him before they faced the ceiling, with her back parallel to the mattress. She also captured another sense to take in; the unique personal scent of his slumbering body resting next to hers. Nothing bad, it was simply like something else that she could now associate to him. At that point in time, she'd hoped that she would never go on without presence of his cologne occupying space in her lungs ever again.

"_So this is what it's like to be in love…_" She said to herself under her breath. "_I just wish that he'd be awake right now…I really would have liked him to keep me from feeling a little lonely at this moment...oh well._"

Inadvertently, she got what was asked for – far sooner than she ever expected.

"**_Ooopf!"_**

Squall had unwittingly kicked Rinoa out of the bed in his sleep, causing her to clatter onto the floor.

"-_Huh… Wha?_" He grumbled groggily after bolting upright from the beneath the covers, not fully realizing what he'd done just yet.

"_Oww…_"

"…_Rinoa?_ _-W_hat are you doing on my floor…" He asked sleepily.

"…You..kicked…me out of…bed." The recently-ejected girl recalled dejectedly. Squall managed to get a small chuckle out of this.

'_I figured that she come crawling in to sleep here, I'm only surprised that she didn't try pleading with me before that last movie was over. Whatever…_'

"…I warned you."

"I thought you were joking about kicking people in your sleep as an excuse." Rinoa rationalized while rubbing the fall-induced sore portion of her back.

"-Nope. The one time I had to share a bed for a school trip I managed to do the same thing to someone else. …They didn't believe me then neither." Squall recollected, with a devilish grin included at the ending remark.

"Well, would it be much of a problem if I just stayed here then?"

"_Umm_…I'm not so sure about _that…err… nevermind._ _-I'll…_ let you stay, but I should warn you, there's still be a chance that I might kick you off again." He got up from the bed and circled around its' perimeter in order to give her his hand to help her up. Rinoa accepted the chivalrous offer and let him aid her back on to her feet.

"That's fine, I can take the risk." She responded boldly, giving off a mischievous look back into his own complex gaze.

During the course of the night, not once was Rinoa catapulted off the warm, soft mattress by mishap, but on the other hand, was securely held close by the one she adored. She was pretty certain that he wasn't asleep when this occurred.

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The next morning, Squall found himself alone in his bed, and there was a lot of evidence to support that theory. First of all, the side he hadn't been sleeping on had telltale signs that its' previous resident had left, via the crumpled sheets and paper napkin effect (when you hop out of bed by moving the sheets and it looks like a folded napkin). Second of all, there was a neatly folded note addressed to him on top of that same mass of covers, and third of all… well… lets just say she wasn't there. Assuming that the note provided the details of where she was, he opened it and swiftly read its' script.

_Sorry for leaving you Squall; I was getting too impatient waiting for you to wake up. You know how it is when you're at someone else's house and you wake up at the crack of dawn? Actually… it was more like 9:30 for me. Anyways, I'll be downstairs eating some cereal or watching TV – depending on when you wake up. I can't wait to see you downstairs. _

_Love, Rinoa_

Upon reading the letter, he promptly glanced towards his alarm clock to see how long he'd stood her up for.

'_10:23! -I'd better get down there fast and make sure that I can get her out of here before he comes back. I should change first, I can't do anything in this, and it'd look a thousand times more inappropriate._'

After swapping his clothing in haste, Squall dashed down the stairs until he stopped right before the base of the landing when he saw Rinoa and his father's confounded figure present in the doorway.

'_I'm doomed…I just know it… At least I can thank Hyne that neither one of us is in our pyjamas, even though this grey hooded sweatshirt wasn't exactly the best of choices..._'

"Oh, why hello there Rinoa. What brings you here this morning?" Laguna obliviously asked very cheerfully, that alone unintentionally gave the impression that he thought nothing of her being there. On the other hand, Rinoa didn't have an inkling to what she would have to make up to avoid telling him the truth.

"_Um-_"

"She's here to …practice for our new S.D class - _we_ passed the exam when the teacher-" Squall's sped up fabrication was cut off by his father. Fortunately, he wasn't interrupting him for questioning his speedy yarn of events.

"-I know Squall. I heard it from the vice principal when he was giving the details about how you got into that fight. Now I can understand why you guys wanted to practice, but why so early?" This time it was the other teenager's turn to spin a tale in the false story of events.

"My father was going to be out of town early in the afternoon, so he dropped me off earlier so that I could get more time to practice."

"I see then. I'm just going to organize some of these new documents in my office. If any of you guys need me, just holler." He said right before retreating. After he was out of an earshot, Squall murmured something while he went back upstairs.

"…Don't worry, I won't need to."

"Squall, that was mean." Rinoa jokingly chided, while ascending the stairs with him.

"…_What?_ I won't…I never do." He replied honestly when he turned his upper body slightly to face her.

"_Nevermind… _C'mon, let's go and do some 'practicing'." She added sarcastically.

"With what…_ imaginary weapons?_"

"No… with _realistic_ pillows."

"…Wouldn't that make him suspicious?"

"Squall, you've got to learn how to have fun, and besides… if either of us hears him come up, we just stop."

"I think I'd rather do my homework…"

"Okay…But can I throw pillows at you?"

"_Hmm…_Just once, I really need this done."

"Make it three and you have a deal."

"…_Fine.._"

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An hour later, Squall somehow managed to finish the remainder of his homework. Rinoa, in an act of kindness, didn't pelt any pillows at him, but rather guided him on the little details he'd still been stuck on. In another sense, she helped him indirectly by remaining silent while doodling something on a plain piece of paper and pen she found, and also left to go to the bathroom on the ground floor later on. Needless to point out, that aided the soundless atmosphere as well. However, by the time he was done, she still wasn't up yet. Five minutes passed before he decided to simply meet her somewhere downstairs, seeing as he felt like having a bit of lunch now, and had taken an assumption that she probably did too.

"Hey Squall, sorry I took so long. Are you done with all of your other stuff?" She apologized as soon as she spotted him passing Laguna's office.

"Yeah…" He replied monosyllabically, feeling slightly under pressure as he noticed his father on the other side of the corridor giving him a very peculiar look.

"…Why are you looking at me like that?" He demanded brusquely, switching the person he was addressing from Rinoa to his father.

"Oh, it's just nothing…" He responded coyly, brushing him and his tone off as he went back to his office once more.

'_Okay, that was weird…_'

Once he was far enough from his father's office door to not risk being overheard, he asked his companion if she had any idea why he was acting like that, and when she contested that she had no clue to any of this, they had lunch together.

However, during roughly the two or three times that Laguna had been alongside them momentarily, while they'd been in kitchen and dining room areas, he kept on giving his son a very specific odd look, and each time Squall couldn't seem to figure out why, because every time he asked him he chorused the line, 'Oh, it's just nothing…' give or take a few minor variations.

Assuming that he was getting very annoyed at his father's antics and that she was partly to blame, Rinoa mercifully commissioned Squall to take her home, faintly mentioning something about 'not burdening her father by making him come pick her up before a _very important _meeting'.

Her chauffeur was secretly thankful for the excuse to desert his mental patient of a parent, and left right then and there.

However, home was not where she wanted to head towards.

"Rinoa, you'll have to tell me where to go because I don't know where you happen to live." Squall clarified as he was inside the car before starting the ignition.

"That's okay, because I really don't want to go home now anyways."

'_She doesn't want to go home? Didn't she just say the complete opposite inside the house?_'

"…In case if you're wondering, I only said that because I could tell that you were getting tired of your dad's stares in the house. I used this to get you away from him by getting you out of the house." She explained in an unnaturally lifeless tone, which was common for Squall himself, but not for her.

"Thanks…" He replied systematically, failing to fill the void in their dismal conversation.

He soon remarked upon that whenever she talked about her father or on the topic of going home, it always managed to drain the life from her. Figuring that it would be best to comply with her wishes, he started suggesting ideas.

"Well… would you like to go to the movies or something else? I'm sure that I have at least a fair amount of money in these pockets."

"Did you plan on this?" She inquired, giving off a perplexed look the same time.

"No…I must have left it in there by accident, I only put this on because it was the quickest thing I could find."

"Oh, okay. Well then, to the movies it is!" Rinoa energetically announced with no traces of her previous sullenness.

'_I'm glad that you're happy Rinoa. It's the least I can do for you for saving my sanity…in more ways than one._' The cerulean-eyed adolescent thought warmly before concentrating on the road in front of him.

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Roughly a quarter of an hour later, they finally arrived in the insides of the cinema's interior. Almost immediately, Squall and Rinoa could smell the wafting scent of the artificially butter-flavoured popcorn lingering through the entrance, and practically everywhere they walked through in the complex. The reason they were wandering so much in the vicinity was because each and every movie available during this time seemed to be either sold-out or filled with scores of people waiting to buy their tickets.

"You've got to be kidding me! There's not even one line-up where it isn't packed up to the hills!" Rinoa angrily fumed. To her, the situation gave the impression that it was the international '_lets-swamp-the-movie-theatre'_ day today, and with that being thought, she wasn't very pleased about it. Meanwhile, Squall seemed to have an entirely different reaction to the masses as his companion had.

'_There's so many people here… I never knew it could **be **this crowded… But why am I feeling so panicky? I'm not claustrophobic…No, I just need to get out of here, something in here is making me edgy- I'm almost sure of it._'

"Rinoa, it's no use, it'll be too late to see anything worthwhile. Let's go, I know of another place we can go to." He persuaded straightforwardly, convincing her effortlessly. They both made it to the doors without any problems - considering the amount people in the contained area and Squall's increasingly speedy pace. Neither of them really understood why he was going so fast, not even Squall himself knew the answer to this particular quandary.

Once they escaped the stuffiness of the complex and into the fresh, crisp outdoor air, the pair was genuinely glad to be gone from the building. Although the unidentified location to where they were supposedly going to go next was now ultimately starting to become an engrossing notion to the one being left out in the shadows, the person who lacked in terms of knowing what and where this destination was. That said someone was now at the point where she couldn't go any longer without knowing as her patience waned. So she went and asked the all-knowing male **in** question **a **question.

"So… Where's this place we're going to? I'm dying to find out." The newly-impatient inquirer obviously…_inquired_ right before getting in the passenger's seat of information-withholder's light blue automobile.

"I'm not saying anything; you'll see when we get there." He said strictly, leaving no room for discussion as he shut the door to the driver's seat.

While Squall was driving out of the parking lot, Rinoa simply gazed out of the car window. Since he drove pretty conservatively and cautiously unlike his father Laguna, or quite possibly anyone else she'd been in a car with, she saw no need to be extra vigilant of the road in front of them, like she inadvertently was with slightly riskier drivers.

Although she knew that it was an extremely weird habit, the element of tension and danger that this quirk brought out often made car trips pass a little faster from the fun provided whenever a minor setback actually did flare up. But seeing as nothing could possibly happen with him at the wheel, it became horrendously dull very quickly and she ended up falling asleep against the glass fairly rapidly. She only woke up later when Squall had poked her, signifying that they were finally there. Rinoa instantly regretted sleeping in such a fashion once she was fully awake; she had the world's worst (and painful) kink in her neck for about a good …_10_ minutes while they were walking along the Balamb harbour docks.

"…What flavour do you want?" Squall enquired, accidentally adding a little bit of a demanding tone in his voice.

"What are you talking about I don't see where you're seeing a menu…" Rinoa replied, already thoroughly bewildered.

'_Hyne, I forgot to mention what I'm talking about! Way to go Leonhart, you take your girlfriend on a pseudo-date for ten minutes and she's already confused… Some genius you are._'

"We're at… _err- Nevermind, let me redo this…_ You see that little canteen right there - right before the harbour docks?"

"Yes. It's the one with the green trim right?"

"Well… That's a little place I know that has the best ice cream in town. …Hardly anyone knows about it."

"…_Hee…_" Squall arched an eyebrow at her poorly subdued giggle.

'_What's so funny? Did I slur something in my sentence or something?_'

"Oh…I'm..sorry, it's just that… it's kind of funny that you would bring me somewhere like this _-it's_ not that I'm not grateful… I love good ice cream too, but… it's almost stereotypical that you'd like something cold because… of the reputation you have with the others. I apologize if that came out wrong…_but_ it's the only way I can explain it."

'_I see… but what so wrong liking ice cream? Doesn't almost everyone like it? What difference does it make if you're a bit more introverted and have a reputation because of it? I know that they call me the 'ice prince' behind my back, but imagine if they were here… they'd have a flipping hay day. Meh, I really don't care…_'

"Whatever…" Feeling slightly guilty about what she had just omitted, she decided to put it behind her and change the topic to alleviate his negative thoughts on the subject of his unorthodox personality traits.

"-What kind of flavours do they offer? Is it only the kinds that you can't buy in stores, or is it the basic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry?" This caught Squall off guard and out of his brooding too, so naturally, Rinoa had to wait a little while for an answer.

"…_Erm- _It's more or less just your basic types. Neapolitan, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butterscotch, cotton candy…" He listed off automatically, nearly giving a robot a run for its money for his severely mechanical response.

"_Ha.. ha…_ Since _when_ has cotton candy, butterscotch and neapolitan been a staple of ice cream in our society?" She debated light-heartedly, making Squall redden slightly. Never in his lifetime would he ever think of having to answer _this_ sort of question.

"Because."

"…_Because_ what?" She teased.

"Because I said so."

" '_Because I said so'_ is not a suitable response Squall."

"-All right… It's because I've never had ice cream anywhere else. So what'll you have?" Squall retorted in a concluding-slash-asking-her-a-question tone.

"…Okay, I'll have…the cotton candy. What are _you_ going to have?" She replied, almost as if she were still a little child.

"I'm having the vanilla. Just wait here _I'll_-"

"-C'mon Squall, live dangerously! Pick neapolitan,_ I dare you!_" Rinoa joshed, acting almost if she were inebriated. As far as the male teenager was concerned, his opinion was that she was drunk on life. _–Or was that high on life?_ Right now, he really didn't care as he was almost laughing from the absurdity. The reasoning behind not laughing about this was that he felt like he had to be extra responsible for the both of them at times… and this was **definitely** one of those times.

When he came back after leaving for the stand a few minutes earlier, he returned with a fairly large cone in each hand. He then proceeded to promptly hand Rinoa her pastel coloured confection, and just as she was about to sit on a nearby bench to consume the dairy product, Squall directed her otherwise.

"Follow me, I know where there's a decent view of the bay not long from here." He denoted serenely.

"Sure."

During their miniscule trek, he led her through various passages, cobblestone streets, wooden piers, grassy knolls, but the sole thing which remained constant was that they were always traveling further and further away from their original position. After nearly three minutes, they were already at a range where the ice cream stand was no longer in their collective sights, and approximately another minute or two passed and they were now at their destination – a towering pristine cliff overlooking the entire marina. Squall had assumed that it was no more than a good view of the harbour and that Rinoa would think this way as well, but to her, it was much more.

"This is beautiful…" Rinoa gasped, nearly forgetting about the dessert in her grasp altogether. "…It's identical to one of the places that I've always dreamed about seeing. Now that I think about it, this is twice as exquisite and dazzling compared to the scenery from my dreams."

"…What were the other places?" Squall added inquisitively.

"Oh! Well, it'll take me ages to think of them all but…" She paused to gather her notions together into something plausible in speech. "…I think that there's one other place that I can really see in my mind's eye, all the others aren't complete enough to describe. Basically, it's an empty, vast green field with millions of flowers blooming everywhere. The blooms are in all of the colours you can think of, and there would be a clear blue cloudless sky and…the sun would shine too… It'd shine very brightly, and would warm you all up inside and… that pretty well sums up to what I had thought."

"…_Hm._"

"Pretty cliché, _huh?_"

"Not at all." Squall reassured. "…In fact, I've seen a place like that in the middle of Centra. I went there during one of my father's business trips that I got dragged into."

"Oh, but it must had been very beautiful to see, wasn't it?" She counter-questioned.

"I don't remember that much actually… I was only seven."

"But why didn't your father get someone to sit for you instead of bringing you if you didn't want to go?"

"I think… it had to do with the fact that I wasn't the most co-operating kid to babysit for."

"Oh…were you a_ little terror?_" She teased, grinning ear-to-ear.

"No… I just wouldn't get out of my room unless if I had to."

"Now why does that _**not** _surprise me?" Rinoa humorously quipped.

"Go eat your ice cream." He moodily edged in to desperately abandon the subject… _since_ he had nothing to retort with.

"Oops, I nearly forgot about it…" After licking the dripping side, she managed to fit one more thing in and it was:

"_Mmm…_ you were right, this **is **good!"

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After finishing up, Squall and Rinoa decided to call it a day, although to Squall, it seemed like Rinoa would have rather faced an enraged Behemoth than to go home. He felt bad, but she had to return to her house at some point in time.

Walking back to the car, an awkward silence started to envelope them. No matter how much he tried to console her nerves, nothing worked and it was ten times worse inside the car. Regular sounds such as closing the doors and putting the keys in the ignition resonated as it were a death row inmate's last steps before his execution, and every breath taken and expelled established the slow crawling pace of the continuous seconds slipping away. To phrase it bluntly, one could say the perpetuating silence was enough to nearly kill a person.

Until the pressure of it all was broken by a forced dialogue intended to detract from the solemn mood.

Surprisingly, Squall was the one who cracked first.

"…Do you think your father will be angry at you?" He inquired while waiting for a green light to get to the main road.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well… because you weren't home all last night, this morning and most of the afternoon." He calmly reasoned while turning onto another side street.

"_He…_never cares where I go anyway. Besides, he's been on a business trip since last night – he won't know the difference regardless."

'_Maybe I should stop and say something different to her. I think that I've hit too many buttons right now…_'

"…Did you …_enjoy_ yourself today?" He asked, albeit quite hesitantly - almost recoiling. Never in life had he asked someone about if they had a positive experience with him, bearing in mind that he'd never been one to care about that sort thing in the past. But that was **before** he had gotten to know her though.

"Yes- _of course_ I had fun! But there's only **one** thing still missing that you didn't do." She interjected slyly.

Being thoroughly puzzled, he took the precaution of daring to ask a moment later when he had stopped the car into her driveway beforehand to be capable of giving her his full attention.

"…_And _what may that be?" He taunted, already half-guessing what she was about to say next.

"_-You_ didn't kiss me goodbye!" She explained with much zeal, filling him in. Squall was totally off the mark in his previous inclination when she unloaded her response; he had assumed that she wanted to go out for supper or something else of that particular nature.

'_This is awkward…What do I do? ..I can't seem to put myself to doing this sort of thing in public, I need a diversion.._'

Luckily, one interruption came instantly in front of them, right then and there.

"_Um… _Rinoa, I don't think your father would like that very much.."

Being true to his word, when Rinoa turned forward and looked out from the car's front windshield, her father was indeed there; tapping his feet impatiently, arms crossed, and his expression thoroughly laced with expressions of annoyance.

"This…does not look good."

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**End of Chapter Comments **– Well, I hope you guys liked the start of this second story instalment. Sorry if it seems kind of plot-less right now… I'll warn you in advance that the story won't present itself until much later, so hang tight!

So in conclusion, as I've already said _umm..one…two-_ 7 times, keep on reviewing with ideas, comments or anything you guys have to say!

_Bye for now!_


	2. Chapter II – Paper Notes

**Author's Notes –** Okay, to be honest, I had written something else for the first part of the author's notes, but since it was a long while back when I started writing this chapter, it no longer holds true (I had been musing about strong winds and snow). However, on a much more sombre note, a dear classmate and friend of thirteen years had just passed away on the 28th of March; it was caused from something that he'd contracted a week prior, and I'd really like to commemorate his memory by dedicating this fic to him.

After he passed, it was a difficult time for me, with the whole realization that he'll never be around to brighten up my- along with many other classmates' days ever again, but with the extra time I had during that week (no teacher dared to give us homework), he inspired me to use the extra time to write some more of this chapter, instead of chewing it all up by moping around, doing nothing. I'm sure if he was still around and talking, he wouldn't want us to be sad, but rather use the time to achieve our goals, such as he did in his short, but meaningful happy life.

Actually, I'm sort of spooked that I can find comfort in some words from Rinoa's speech in Locked Inside's Chapter 7 - **_before_** I ever had this sort of thing happen to me.

"_(…) When I learned to simply accept it, things turned out for the better. Because I was finally accepting that nobody lives forever and that I should live for life's special moments, and have support from people, rather than trivializing over the point that they'll all be gone someday. Life's too precious to be continuously unhappy in order keep it simple, rather then to be loved by others while they're still around."_

Now if I may return to the fic, I'm glad to see that people liked my return into the writing realm again, but trust me, it'll get much better from here on in.

And, for the record, I did change the fic's title; it used to be Contrasting Perspectives, but advice given to me from a person that I greatly respect, I also changed it based on the reason that it wasn't very appealing …or completely fitting for the genre for that matter. Also, I apologize for any confusion that this change might have caused. Sorry about that.

So, with that cleared up, I'll start the chapter now, but first…

_- This story has been dedicated to the memory of Alain Raby. You were always smiling to the end. -_

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**Chapter II – Paper Notes**

'_Tap…Tap…Tap._'

Their last moment together was brief, to say the least, after catching sight of her father through the glass, Rinoa's eyes misted over and went dry again in the same blink, hands ringing themselves frantically, and lips pursed, dying to say something but were unable to.

"_-Sorry…_" Squall hastily mumbled.

"No.. it's okay." She assured. "I'll…be fine, see you later."

'_But will there be a later… for us?_'

She tranquilly opened and closed the door. Stepping outside, her gaze flecked with a faltering courage, always looking forward. Squall's heart panged as her eyes daringly met with his fleetingly and then wavered to the other man's. In the brief instant when they exchanged glances, it was almost if the flickering present in the depths of her eyes were trying to convey a message to him. However, not risking endangering her any further; he refuted to return the signal.

'-_Don't worry about me?'_

'_Put the key in. Turn the engine on._'

'_-Was that what she'd been trying to say?'_

'_Put the clutch in reverse. Back out.' _

'_-I hope that I didn't get her in trouble…_'

'_Drive away, far away._'

After the pale blue car escaped the view, Rinoa sighed, preparing for the uncomfortable silence… and the evitable minor scolding lecture. She walked lifelessly, stepping on the asphalt, then on the cement doorstep, emitting a noise, but not registering in her brain. She wandered two steps into her house when a booming '_thud_' shook her surroundings.

It was her dad closing the door harshly, face laced with an angry undertone.

"…Here it comes." She whispered flatly to herself. "The whole bleeping rant about the dangers of teenage boys."

"Young lady, where have you been? You know that you're not supposed to leave the house while I'm gone on business trips." Rinoa's brow furrowed as her mindset tried to adjust to his unusually concerned tone.

"Why would you care about what I do? You're elsewhere anyway!" She vehemently disputed.

"Regardless of what you happen to think about me, I do happen to care very much about you." This affirmation had an adverse-effect on Rinoa, infuriating her rather than consoling her.

"Oh, so now you're above the _'she's-always-at-friend's-houses'_ stage? Who are you trying to impress, _Sylvia?_"

"-No, it's not _that-_ I…"

"What, is it because a boy brought me home?" At that moment, the General's calm demeanour had finally gave way to an impatient one as his patience vanished from his daughter's various insinuations.

"**_-Stop_** for a moment Rinoa. Listen to yourself, just a week or two ago, you would have been downright happy that I'm giving you heck for not being home, and now you're acting like caring for you is the worst thing that had ever happened in your life, what's wrong?"

"It's… nothing." She lied. "I'm just not used to it, that's all."

"Well, I'm just trying to do my best." Her father admitted in a foreign paternal tone, nearly sounding out of context in comparison from his earlier, heavily infuriated low timbre two minutes prior. After this, she started to retreat upstairs, towards her room.

"Bite me." The withdrawing girl diminutively spat with her back turned.

"What was that?"

"_Urm.._ Nothing."

"Rinoa-" The said daughter uncharacteristically stopped climbing the steps surprisingly, eyeing her father with an intolerant stare from the peak of the stairwell.

"-**_Yes…?_**" She stressed.

"Just to tell you, I know enough about Mr. Loire's son to know that he would not do anything inappropriate like those other boys-"

'_Guess again General. Squall's not solely about books and cold stares…If only you knew…_' She reminisced ironically, tuning him out completely for the majority of his speech.

"-and Rinoa, Sylvia _is_ coming for supper Sunday, just to let you know." He concluded.

"…_Wha?_" After, she immediately dashed to her room; the carpet underneath her toes never felt so coarse in her life.

'_Klu..Klic..Kl-_'

"Come_- erg…**on..**_ you stupid door! Open! _Gah!_"

'_Crash! Thunk!_'

"Argh! Why does everything in this house have to piss me off so much today?" She vented angrily, gathering herself up from the entrance of her room from where she fell.

She weaved through her discarded clothes and various papers strewn on the floor, plopping herself on her fluffy bedspread. Thoroughly defeated, she placed her head on a pillow, and grabbed the nearest soft object – a stuffed lion - and therapeutically gave it a big squeeze.

'_I can't believe he invited that woman for supper and not tell me about it until a day prior… Yeah, that gives me a **whole **lot of time to find an excuse to leave… or at least mentally prepare myself. I don't even know why he's dating her, if he wanted a carbon copy of Mom, all he had to do was wait until technology advanced a bit more._'

At that moment, Rinoa substituted the stuffed lion with a plush dog, fearing that if she hugged the life out of it anymore that it would go big-headed and bug-eyed forever.

'_Maybe I'm being a little too harsh, Sylvia's not my Mom's clone, it's just that… Some things are so… uncanny… Her face, little bits in her voice, her piano-playing abilities, even her laugh… Still, even with the major differences that she does have, it's hard not to think that he's trying to replace her sometimes…_'

The teary-eyed teenager got up slowly from the soft blue bed. Walking towards her desk, she opened the top drawer and filtered through the numerous books, loose pages and old drawings. Having not found what she was looking for, she repeated the process for the next two drawers. The same result produced.

"Where is it? ……_Ah ha!_" While rummaging through the pile on top of the desk surface itself, she finally found what she was searching for. Then she bounded back onto the mattress, flitting through the pages.

'_Grade nines, staff pictures, school picnic... -Here we are… Grade ten dance photos. Hee, Squall looks the same as ever, still brooding in the corner, hmm… the only difference I can see is that he's gotten an inch or two taller, and **maybe** a little more square in the shoulders… Oh, I remember this other picture…Ah, it felt as if it were only yesterday when I wore that cream-coloured dress that my father hate-_'

Setting aside the yearbook, Rinoa sighed and stood up on her feet once more.

"This is getting pointless. Why am I always turning my thoughts towards my father? The only this does is achieve to make me angrier and angrier each time. And _I_… **HATE THIS! **I hate… this sideof me…All I'm ever doing is making myself wish that…"

At that moment, her eyes shifted onto an old jewellery box poised in the left side of her vanity dresser, unconsciously finding herself gravitating towards it. Inside, Rinoa saw a little tarnished gold locket once she had wistfully lifted the chest's top. She opened the trinket's insides slowly and looked upon an old family photo – dating back many years ago.

'_Oh. …This was the last gift that my parents gave me, before the accident…'_ She mused dolefully.

"-It's t_his_ kind of thing makes me wish… That I still _had this…this magic, this…wonder, _and it makes me sad to think about it because…"

'_-I know that it'll **never** happen._'

Rinoa brutally shut the locket's cover closed, and threw it violently against the wall, ultimately killing the nostalgic mood… and the faint whimsical hope that its' memories brought.

"Oh no…" She sobbed.

When she looked backwards after turning her back on the trinket, she noticed that its' edges were fractured, and after she checked to see if the insides were ruined, it was evident that they were. The picture's miniature glass encasing was cracked and its' picture was no longer was untainted; instead, it was split and torn in several places.

"I have to bring this to a repair shop… I can't believe.. _that_ I did this."

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'_I can't seem to focus anymore…Better pull over for awhile until these distractions stop swirling around my head so much. Hyne, I nearly hit two cars already…_'

Pulling over onto the nearest suitable patch of land alongside the road - a park, Squall precisely used the time to purposefully rid himself of all mental disturbances.

After stepping out and executing all precautions to ensure that the car was indeed locked, and not running, he strolled along the well-established frozen dirt trail. Travelling down the path, Squall eventually passed through a small divide of trees and shrubs, and with his hands in his pockets, the perpetuating chime of his pendant echoed eerily, swaying with his every movement. About a couple of uncomfortable moments later, the bench he sought came increasingly closer and closer into his linear line of vision as he brushed away another tree branch.

As he finally reached the clearing, the pensive adolescent slowed his pace, and leisurely ambled on the well worn earthy streak, with his breath becoming less and less shallow. When he got there, he instantly sat down with his head dropped, hands evenly holding the weight near each temple. The sun unusually gave off some radiant heat to the back of his exposed neck amid the current late winter season.

'_So… this is how it is, to be with someone…I almost feel like certain parts…certain aspects inside me have already changed so… effortlessly.. -without me even noticing it…_'

He lifted his head up from its' previously slanted position, now gazing at the sun intently with an icy-blue scrutinizing look, thinking beyond the horizon he was eyeing.

'…_I wonder how she's doing, her father seemed so cross… At the same time, I wonder why Laguna's been acting so weird-weirder than usual to me, it's almost like-'_

He stood up and stormed off, making shattering impacts in the frosted earth with each step.

"**-I'm going to kill her for telling!**" He shouted loudly, bringing his fists down in rage, scaring the animals within range.

"…_Whoa!_" Squall gasped right after he suddenly halted.

A little girl in blonde pigtails stood stock-still right in front of him and was staring at him wide-eyed, almost with borderline tears in the gleam of her eyes. As soon as their eyes met, she screamed blue murder at the top of her lungs and ran off through the trail, leaving an enormous dusty blaze in the wake that her tiny legs could muster.

"**-MOMMY!_ Mommy!_ _…I'm s-scared!_**" She wailed loudly, flailing her arms incessantly without pausing to breathe. "I heard an angry noise, and the man said that he was going to **KILL ME! **…And I don't **_wanna_** go tobogganing no more!"

'_Okay… maybe I shouldn't shout death threats anymore…I just might get arrested._' He thought uncomfortably.

With each step afterwards, the dents made in the ground obviously lessened, becoming non-existent before the first fresh print his shoes left, as Squall felt too ashamed to feel angry. When the car was within a close proximity, he fished for his keys tranquilly and opened the door without a trace of emotion. His emotions have already quite possibly landed him into a world of trouble and he wanted to escape this moment without causing another ruckus.

After he sat once more in the vehicle, and then drove off, he found that his mindset had indeed cleared… a slight bit.

'_That's the last time I'm saying my thoughts out loud, it never fails to give people the wrong impression…Actually, it usually makes me look homicidal… _'

He suddenly slammed on the brakes and stopped at an intersection.

'_Now… What am I going to do about him?-'_

Squall abruptly halted again as the car in front of him turned onto a side street.

'_-Damnit! I've got to stop doing that! Argh..This is going to be a **long** ride if I don't…_'

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Managing to get into the driveway after enduring varied kinds of heavy traffic, the weary teenager automatically turned everything off inside and locked everything on the outside. Trudging out of the automobile, he nearly exhausted himself from his own efforts. Getting to the door and even getting inside the house was certainly going to prove even more difficult. While taking lead-like progressions forward, he no longer had to worry about having to dig for his keys in his deep pockets again to open the entrance door; Laguna had already done that for him and was waiting for him at the opening.

Squall rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger as some last second preparation.

"So, what's the news kiddo, why are we late in coming back?" His dad chirped. It was too light-hearted to classify it as 'inquiring' or 'questioning'.

He rubbed his eyes some more, this time he used the entire palm of his hand.

'_You don't even know the half of it…and I'm going to keep it that way._'

"Traffic… too many cars everywhere." He conjured.

"Ah yes…" Laguna mused. "That's the same line I used on my parents when I went on my first date – and it didn't work then neither."

'_What, where you like 27? Forget about it.. I don't really care that you know anymore - unless if you don't keep your trap shut._'

"…What's it to you?" He responded acidly.

"Well it's important to know that my son isn't a workaholic robot."

'_What about all of those double-shifts you've pulled as of late? Or was that because you've fallen asleep at your desk?_'

"…Whatever."

"Heh, I predicted a long time ago that you'd act like this if you'd ever gotten yourself a girlfriend."

"Okay… I'm just going to ignore that and… go into my room,_ if_ you don't mind."

"-That's…err.. fine. I'll call you when it's suppertime."

"…Sure."

After Squall had gone upstairs to go into what Laguna assumed to be his room, that same father mumbled something to himself.

"Wow, I was expecting him to blow up or something, usually he doesn't like it when I tease him like this…Maybe Rinoa might be even better for him than I thought. Who knows, maybe I might get more than two phrases out of him yet."

Meanwhile, in his room, Squall also opted to mumble something to himself as well, as opposed to the traditional method of mentally analysing it to bits.

"Ugh… I just hope that everyone won't be as nosy as **_him._** Wait a minute… Why am I doing a monologue? I could have as easily been thinking this instead. …It finally happened; I must have gone completely insane today…"

Right after, the temporarily non-pensive teenager crashed onto his bed and took a well-needed nap without any complications. To Squall, it really felt good not to think about something… for a brief while.

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When Monday inevitably rolled around, Squall didn't seem to have that pressured feeling that he usually experienced whenever he failed to get everything organized and ready beforehand. Instead, he took things at a much slower and relaxed rate contrary to his usual unnecessarily-hurried way of getting ready 10 minutes ahead of schedule. For a moment there, his mind fleetingly reflected upon the notion that he could have been drugged the night before, but then again, he knew that his father wouldn't have had the adequate skills to pull it off. So, as an alternative, Squall simply ruled in favour of this just being a very unusual morning.

It must have been unusual, because he also had the urge to take the bus to school against driving there to top it all off.

After he'd left the house, he calmly strolled towards the designated bus stop corner. Today seemed much better weather-wise compared to yesterday. Whereas yesterday had plenty of continuous whipping winds and a depressing overcast sky all day long, this particular morning appeared to have potential of being like a taste of the not too far-off spring season, with all of its' sunshine, warm breezes, hints of chirping noises in the background and what not. Squall had never been one to like this entirely cheery atmosphere, but the signs of hopefulness were layered on so much that even he could not resist its' innate charm, especially when he took a second to glance upon the impossibly clear light blue skies and the protruding emerald green grasses.

'_Hmm, it doesn't look so bad out here… Still, why did I choose to take the bus? I could have drove today, it's not like the car was gone-_'

Squall rapidly ended that unfinished thought as the school bus stopped and opened its' doors to let him climb on.

'-_I keep on forgetting that this thing comes early, I'm sure I'll think of that answer later._'

Bus stops and pickups came and went; sceneries changing from the more sophisticated neighbourhoods to the poorest and occasionally littered with stops to the more rural places as the stoic adolescent looked on absentmindedly, still trying to find the answer to the **_obviously _**unanswered question floating around the grey matter in his brain. But it was a losing battle as his eyelids started to droop lower and lower, eventually transitioning him into a light slumber from his previously comatose state. Luckily for the others, Squall wasn't the type who snored in his sleep.

'_Poke…poke…poke…POKE!'_

"………_Hm?_" Squall mumbled drowsily as he lazily opened his one eye while rubbing the other. Since he couldn't withstand the incessant prodding no longer, he finally woke up from his slight cat nap.

'…_Is it time to get off the bus already?_' He pondered, and then he glanced to verify his hypothesis's correctness.

'-_Nope, there's roughly… 20 minutes left- I recognize that side street. …Hmph, there must be an juvenile idiot behind-_'

As he turned his head slightly to glare at the juvenile idiot in question, he couldn't help but eat his words, or in this case, thoughts.

'-_**Now** I know why I took the bus this morning._'

He couldn't help but smirk as he saw Rinoa, the formerly accused moronic prodder, giving him a goofy grin from the seat directly across from his own. After a split-second, he stopped smirking and harshly swivelled his head forwards, avoiding her gaze altogether, breaking into a slight self-induced feverish sweat.

'…_What am I going to do now?_'

Continuous self-disciplinary notions kept pouring through the troubled teen's mind as he attempted to refrain from giving eye contact with his new girlfriend, _attempted_ being the key word as he occasionally forgot about the unspoken regimen and glanced at her, which in turn, turned into a smile and small giggle on her part and a restrained grin on his.

_Restrained _was the new key word for that part, since it was only when she giggled that he fully realized what he had done on each lapse, and kept on severely reprimanding himself mentally for each and every occurrence.

'_I'm. Driving. Myself. Insane. With. This. I've got to stop forgetting… People might catch on.. This is getting……worse._'

Distracting himself, he pulled out one of the books he had recently borrowed from the library in the bottom of his backpack. Glancing through the pages, he set it down in a matter of seconds.

'_This isn't what I remember picking, I must have accidentally picked the wrong one in haste… Rinoa might like this-_'

He turned his head ever so slightly only to brusquely bring it back to face the window once more.

'-_Damnit! I did it again…Why did I have to turn into a hopeless romantic? Worse of all, I know she wouldn't be too pleased if I ignore her in public, but what am I to do? The thought alone is enough to- Hyne, this is confusing…._'

When Rinoa noticed the last time he turned around briefly and fleetingly took a glance at her, her face didn't break into the usual smile or giggle; instead, she frowned and looked towards her own window and peered at his expression indirectly through the reflection cast by the glass.

"Poor guy, I know what going on here…" She whispered near-silently to herself in a spark of insight, still glancing at his distressed mirror-image.

After several minutes had passed and about three minutes before they were scheduled to arrive to the school, Squall found himself trying to distract himself once more with whatever he could find. Although whenever he did manage to find something to occupy himself, it never lasted more than a minute before his thoughts kept drifting towards the lone girl sitting across from him. At least he didn't break his regime by making eye contact.

'_Whoosh! Thunk._'

Looking down, Squall noticed a small paper airplane hitting his left shoe, which, by the looks of it, had some writing on it as some small words were peeking out of the folds. Curiosity got the best of him when he saw his name neatly printed among other words on the right wing. Naturally, he opened it up and read it. His gaze immediately softened.

_I understand that this might not be so easy for you Squall. Meet me in the library; I've got loads of things to tell you._

_Love, Rinoa_

_P.S – Look ticked off and crumple the note; the people behind me look very suspicious. _

As he crumpled up the folded paper and gave her a five-star ultra-frigid glare, Squall noticed that Rinoa was biting her lower lip hard to prevent herself from quite possibly grinning ear-to-ear. Afterwards, when they finally got off the bus, he remarked upon how her bottom lip was slightly bleeding, and that it undeniably had the exact same indentations from her upper teeth. He immediately slapped his hand onto his forehead in sheer exasperation.

'_I guess I won't be doing anything like **that** in the near future, Hyne knows she can't keep a straight face…_'

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While trying to walk serenely towards the library as he normally did, he found it increasingly difficult to slow his pace and not raise suspicion among the thirty-or-so students ambling around the same area in the corridor. Nobody, not even Squall himself, ever raced down a hall to just go to the school library…unless if there was a monster fine to be paid before the bell or if a major essay was left completely undone a period before it was due. Seeing as Squall had neither problem resting on his shoulders, he presumed that it'd be best if he didn't speed down the hallway like a crazed maniac.

'…_I feel like I'm under constant surveillance here, my head's swimming with thoughts, my palms are all sweaty…But I know that this is worth it, I just have an undeniable feeling that it is…I..know- I just know it. …Phew, I'm almost there, time to escape this crowd. I wonder what Rinoa wants to talk about though…'_

A few moments later, after Squall walked into the secluded library, he glanced around the immediate perimeter, saw nothing, looked around the corner, he still saw nothing. Shuffling around the area, somewhat unsure of what to do, he did what came naturally to him as he started to pretend to be reading in his usual spot – the closest chair near the doorway.

Eventually, he stopped pretending as the minutes slowly slipped past.

'…_Argh_, _why did I pick this bland excuse for a book? The whole novel so far has been about a guy trying to figure out who murdered his friend when he obviously knows that his mother did it, you can see it a mile away. Sometimes authors use foreshadowing too much for their own good…and why does it seem like something's always nagging at the back of my…shoulder? Wait a minute, that's not nagging, it's seems to be more like…poking?_'

He instantly looked away from his novel, glanced sideways and immediately peered into a set of rich dark brown eyes.

"Squall, you seriously have to stop getting so transfixed into things. I've been tapping your shoulder for nearly two minutes now, and quite frankly, my finger's starting to hurt." Rinoa explained light-heartedly.

"…Sorry."

"It's okay, no harm done. Come on, I really have some things I need to tell you, lets' go down by the fiction section in the corner."

"Sure."

Walking calmly, the pair quietly went towards the aforementioned corner, going down the small set of three mini-stairs to get to the other lower section, where the majority of the books were currently shelved. During their minuscule trek, Squall unconsciously kept shifting his gaze, scanning corner-to-corner. In contrast, Rinoa plainly strode in an even pace whereas the other kept on occasionally pausing, still looking here and there.

'-_Klunk!_'

The male onlooker had just knocked into a generic library table.

'-_Ouch! Why did I turn into a klutz all of a sudden? Can't I go two seconds without smashing into something?_'

Then, Rinoa turned and asked serenely, "You okay there?"

"Fine. _Just fine._" He gritted through his teeth, trying to retain some amount of dignity.

"Oh, okay." She responded. "Well… would it be okay if I just started now? There's a lot of stuff I just have to get off my chest and… no one's here so, it wouldn't matter anyways."

The other adolescent nodded courteously.

"Well, to be quite honest, _um_… this seems a little too early to be talking about this to you but- …I really need an outlet right now, and I don't… _urm, how do I put it?_ –I don't…… exactly… **_feel_** like hearing suggestions from my friends, just… someone to hear me out." Rinoa admitted, to some extent, in an awkward manner, along with the telltale signs - such as looking downwards, tracing imaginary circles in the carpet with her right shoe and the like. Squall's ears instantly perked up at this admission and went to convert the message into several consequential mental notes in his brain.

'_Just listen attentively and pay attention, and you won't screw up. That's why you're here; to help her._'

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Okay, my _father _is dating someone new- _and before you think that I'm not open to that, it's not true but-" _Rinoa caught herself at that point from going too quick and defensively._ "…_Oops, I went too fast there, heh.."

After a small pause, she continued- albeit a little uneasily. "-Well, the fact of the matter is that… it's not that my father's dating that's bugging me, or that I don't like her, it's just that… sometimes I feel like… he's trying to _**replace** _her."

'_Replace who? I don't understand…' _Squallgave her a merely perplexed stare, issuing no verbal communication what so ever.

"Oh! Sorry about that, what I mean is that… some things, _err…_ some traits that Sylv_ia–_ _Oops, I forgot to mention that she's the_ _lady that my father's been seeing_- Anyways, hers' are practically identical to my mother's! -_And I can't help it!_ It's driving me insane! I feel that he's using her to pretend like mother's still alive!" She shouted unstably.

"-**_SHHHHHH!_**" The librarian finally cut in to intervene and cease Rinoa's emotionally-charged rant.

"-_Sorry…_Didn't mean it…"

'_Hmm… Maybe I have an idea to remedy this.'_ Right now, a thinking look was now apparent on the silent teenager's face.

"_Are_ you… thinking about anything Squall?" She whispered innocently.

"…I know that you said to not give ideas, but I just had one in my head, that's all. Nothing effective though."

"Well, I'd still like to hear it, if it's okay."

No words were spoken straightaway as he stood slightly transfixed, deeply analyzing her facial expression.

"…Didn't you-"

"Don't worry, I said that I didn't want _friends_ giving me suggestions, I don't mind yours." Rinoa explained candidly without reservation.

'_That seemed a little forward…_'

"Seeing as my father knows about _us_," He started with an acerbic twist, but dulled it down afterwards, or would have.

"-Before you continue, I'm sorry, but I _had_ to tell him." She rectified.

"-For _what_ reason?"

"I did it so he wouldn't think of worse things."

"…What did you mean by?"

"I don't know, I could just tell that he found it very odd considering it's you we're talking about."

"Gee thanks."

"_No!_ I meant- _argh…_sorry, I didn't mean it in _that_ way, that's just the way I figured was going on in his head. By… _the_ _way_ he was talking to us… **-_and_** to me when I went downstairs alone. I guess… I should have phrased it differently, what kind of girlfriend am I to say such things?"

"It doesn't really matter Rinoa, but as I was trying to say, I was thinking along the lines of you coming over if you needed to step out for a bit, or something…"

'_Hyne, what did I say? That sounded horrible, she's going to laugh at me, thinking that I meant something else again…_'

"Okay, but if I do happen to go to your place, would you mind if I bring my Pinwheel? I'm sure that'd kill _ti-_"

After coming out of his minor trance, derived from the unused protective measures for some possible recoil, they'd both realized something together, vocalizing it in a strange unison.

"**_Oh crap! We forgot about the advanced S.D class!_**" They yelled at the same time.

"**Okay, that's the last straw! Are you two going to be quiet or am I going to have to kick the both of you out?**" The surly ageing librarian bellowed, glaring in their direction.

"…_No need!_"

"_Bye!_"

At that point, two hastened blurs rushed past the now-confused bookkeeper. What she didn't know was that they were both deathly late in getting to their first class.

"I'll never ever understand teenagers. Hyne… I hope that I'll get transferred to Balamb Garden soon, these kids are driving me nuts here!"

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'_Ding. Ding. Ding._'

While they both respectfully paused to get their things momentarily, Squall couldn't seem to find his equipment and clothes fast enough for his liking. Friday he'd managed to inadvertently get on the teacher's bad side and if he was late today, and it certainly wouldn't help things one bit to get back on his good side.

'_Finally! Hyne, it never takes **this** long to take out my gym bag and Revolver case… This is not looking good, maybe if I explain he'll understand. No he won't, urgh, either way, I'm screwed, I **know **won't be able to change rapidly enough to make it... Better start sprinting again._'

As he started to go into a dash once more, it wasn't before long that he noticed Rinoa running alongside him.

"Was that _the- _Three_ minute-_ Warning_ bell?_" She asked in-between strides. Squall only managed to mouth a feeble '_Yes_', while barely missing the entire lingering football team.

"Do you _think-_ We'll be able_ to-_ Change in _time?_"

"-Not likely." He replied after a slight jump.

"_Oh-_ Great, we'll _be-_ Chewed _out-_ For _sure…_"

'_I'll take the brunt for this; I should have reminded her **and** myself…_' Squall internally moped. A split second later, his thoughts focused on Rinoa as he saw her dodge some other bystanders.

'_Oh Hyne, she's not going to miss that one…_'

"_Hey_, watch where you're going!" The random student shouted towards the running female.

"-_S_orry, _I'm in a hurry!_" She briefly voiced apologetically.

"Hey! That's the second time, what's wrong with you people?" He hollered once more.

"_Same problem… Very late._" Squall weakly justified, picking up speed yet again.

'**_Crash! Clang!_**'

Squall had just been catapulted into the air and fell onto his front; he'd missed avoiding another someone who was crouching, possibly to get some fallen textbooks, and produced a massive collision in the process. Needless to say, everyone in the hallway was gawking at the spectacle provided by the two males. Rinoa, however, was not a part of the spectators; she was already too far down to see who caused the clatter properly.

'_Argh… Should have been.. looking. Must…urg.. get up._'

Forcing himself to his feet again, it was apparent that he had received some minor nicks and cuts scattered on his hands and face, and was going to have some extensive bruising on his chest later on. Brushing some dust off and mumbling a barely sufficient '_Sorry', _he dashed off all over again; this time, he'd made sure that he was aware of the numerous hazards, namely the errant teenage corridor habitants, and actually managed to catch up to Rinoa.

"Were you _the- _One who _fell?_" She rasped.

"…Yeah."

"Almost _there._ You must be in **real** _good-_ Shape to _catch-_ Up _so-_ Fast. _Ever-_ Went _for- _Track and_ Field?_"

He smiled at that remark. "Yeah, three years straight."

"_Figures._" Rinoa breathed.

'_**D-DIN-NG!'**_

Skidding into the gym itself roughly after what probably was a fraction of a second later, all eyes were now on the two intruders. Why that was, Squall didn't know, as he previously thought that no further exams had been conducted after his and Seifer's skirmish on Friday. But alas, as he could obviously point out, several classmates from their former S.D class were also present at this time, so, for some unknown reason, the exams must have somehow been carried out.

"Well, looky here…" A taunting voice drawled. Apparently, Seifer made the class as well. After a slight pause, he continued.

"The 'top students' are now on top of the late list! What's next to be on top of? Naah… better not say it, there are virgin ears in crowd." At that point, he glanced over at a certain short blond.

"**_Hey!_**" Zell whined, although his voice wasn't the only one that piped up.

"Wow, Seifer I'm impressed, you finally know where to draw the line. For awhile there, I was afraid that you didn't know how."

"Aah, you're ruining my fun Quistis," He chimed, "we can't _all _be as serious as Puberty Boy over there. He knows I'm only joking,_ right?_"

"Go to hell." Squall retorted; expression still as void as usual.

After he had said his simple reply, the others just roared with laughter. Seifer however, not wanting to be laughing stock for too long, had tried diverting attention by adding a, '_C'mon, lighten up Leonhart, you know it was a joke._', but it didn't work as the others still snickered for a little longer and Squall himself smirked slightly. He knew that he had won. Then, the teacher came in.

"Alright, alright, enough laughing class, come on now, I expect better from an advanced class! Leonhart, Heartilly, why aren't you two changed yet?" The dark-haired teacher insisted.

'_Guess I'll have to make something up.._'

"_Err… _We came in late and…"

"Nevermind, save your excuses Squall, I know that you two forgot. This sort of thing happens every year- with all new classes that is... I'll be lenient for today and forgive the tardiness, just change during the announcements."

As Squall left towards the designated male locker room, the noises of the commencing announcements, footsteps and numerous voices persisted to permeate in his ear drums. Then, a very specific fleeting intonation drowned it all out.

"Guess we were lucky,_ huh?_" She whispered momentarily to his retreating backside. For whatever reason, he couldn't seem to smirk or smile as he was increasing growing accustomed to, and instead, a mechanical response ensued.

"Whatever."

"Same old, same old, _huh Squall?_" Rinoa murmured before finally leaving.

'_Yeah, that's the problem._' He pensively thought later on, when he was changing alone inside the locker room.

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"_-S_o _what did you get on your exam?_"

"_Really? He messed up on **that**_ _technique, I thought it was idiot-proof! You would have done better with my partner._"

"-_You're kidding! You nearly got hit on the head? Ouch…_"

"_Sorry I forgot to bring it, is tomorrow okay?_"

"_-I wonder what we're going to learn… Hope we don't have to run, my muscles are still aching from yesterday._"

Passing through the accumulated thicket of people talking around the locker room entrance, Squall squeezed through the central gathering in order to see if the teacher was starting to talk anytime soon.

And he did- after the din had lessened and Rinoa lightly jogged out from the girls' room.

"Okay class, lets' get started, as we are slightly behind schedule. Now, since this is a newly-formed course, to rule out the most probable question, the basic mechanics of this higher class will be nearly identical to that of the standard one. _**However**,_ you'll actually have partners to practice the movements and drills with." He announced.

'_Sounds good so far._'

"**But-**" Mr. Janis added with a louder pitch, trying to emphasize its' importance. Then, he took a large breath.

"In order to be effective in training, one partner will only last roughly two weeks, so you'll all get a feel for different weapon types. At the end of every partnership, there will be an evaluation, failure to either show up without a valid reason, _or_ three consecutive failing grades will result in a departure from this class. Depending as I see fit, the student in question **will** either be simply kicked out, or put back into the standard self-defence/weaponry class. Any questions?"

As several hands were raised among the other… nine students, Squall took the time to note the people who made it.

'_Besides Rinoa, Seifer, Quistis, Zell and myself, it looks as if…Irvine,…what's her name, the brown haired girl, err- Olivia, another guy and two other girls that I have no clue as to who they are made it. This class might be decent enough, I can already see some interesting duels that could be made against some of those weapons, I don't know how I'll manage against those Katals without hurting the one guy though._'

Zoning back into reality, he paid attention long enough to hear the final two syllables of the last question being answered. He just hoped that none of the issues covered in the enquiries pertained to anything important as he wasn't in the mood to listen.

"Squall? _Hell-oo…" _Itwas Rinoa waving a hand in front of him; Squall instantly leaned backwards in mild surprise.

"Weren't you listening? We're supposed to start now and I'm your partner." She enlightened him furthermore.

"-_What?"_ He stumbled. "Sorry…I wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah, that '_far-off-into-space'_ look of yours pretty well gave that away."

"…What do we have to do?"

"I don't know; we're going to find that out in a moment." His partner explained plainly. Right now, Squall ran a hand through his hair, unknown to the majority of the school populace; it was actually a nervous tick of his.

'_Smooth Squall, very smooth._'

"Okay, before we start on the brand new sets of advanced defensive patterns, we're going to warm up with the last defensive drills we learned in the regular class, but we're going to do them at a much faster speed than usual, to get the heart pumping quicker and blood circulating. And remember, don't compromise accuracy and skill just for speed; they still must still be present, so that means I don't want to see any sloppy performances. As soon as you and your partner are ready, start."

"You ready?" Rinoa asked playfully. Squall nodded, Gunblade slung over his right shoulder.

Defensive pattern five itself was simple, but complex if someone wanted to master its' finer points. Squall, like many other perfectionists, had indeed learned to avoid the common, but subtle errors present in 98 percent of all students' attempts at the aforementioned combination of movements. The whole combo consisted of one upward counter-swipe to fend off the opponent's weapon, then a right side step. After, the defender had to use the broad side of their weapon, facing downwards, to block another oncoming attack, take a step or two backward, and then crouch down with the weapon shielding them perpendicularly and then repeat the entire process. On top of that, there were also variations for those using arms other than your basic sword-type weapons, and Squall knew them all flawlessly.

"Want me to start on the defensive, or do you want to?" She inquired once more.

"…I'll start."

When Rinoa signalled for them to commence the drill, the two went to work immediately without hesitation. She aimed a projectile to his upper body and he hit it away perfectly high into the air, then following through with the side step. Since Rinoa didn't have a close-range weapon, he had to compensate somewhat by dashing to her side faster, sliding almost.

They had a bit of difficulty when he came to block, as his short-changed gliding motion earlier sent him a little too close and the distance between his Revolver's blade and her Pinwheel's disk launcher was almost too short. Although they still managed to pull it off, this caused a bit of a painful vibrating impact upon the blade's broadside. So, in order to remedy this, Squall took two slightly shorter strides backwards, figuring that this would eliminate the need to resort to sliding as opposed to the traditional method of side stepping later on.

Even though this did work, it wasn't the last of their problems.

As they continued the motions, and later on switched defensive and offensive positions, the pair did exactly as they were told by the teacher; going faster than usual without sacrificing precision or ability, but after awhile, something else started happening as they switched once more, after they were instructed to add two extra movements, which in this case, were two fencer-stance hacks.

"Heh, with the way this is _going-_ I'll be a dress size thinner next week!" Rinoa giggled as Squall just sent her projectile flying once again. However, he said nothing in response.

'_Side step._'

'_Block._ _Crouch. Block._'

'_Hack. Hack. Faster! I need to -Swipe- do this better, Hyne I'm getting –side step- slow…Hmph._'

"Squall?" She sighed. No answer. "Oh no, not this again."

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Rinoa had to endure ten more minutes of this tiresome problem, nearly hitting her cohort on several occasions since she was so dog-tired from going so fast all of the time. Squall on the other hand, didn't take notice of any of this. And when the teacher called for the whole class to take a five minute break, he still took no notice.

'_Phew, that was much more challenging; I think I'll really enjoy this class. But right now, I think I'll take a trip to the water fountain, I might have over-exerted myself a little._'

Strolling down the adjoining corridor, the previously-lone teenager was soon accompanied with many other classmates, who must have shared the same trail of thought, much to his dismay. In all, there was a slightly reddened Quistis and Olivia, a droopy-haired and sweaty Zell and a completely exasperated Rinoa. As he took a brief look at the rag-tag group behind him, he figured that they needed the extra water more than he did, so he stopped to let them pass and reverted back towards gym. As he was doing this, he saw Rinoa glance in his direction, eyes holding a small glimmer, smile ready to form despite her obvious weariness, but he never saw any more than that.

The only thing the retreating adolescent managed to see was the gym's dull and dusty door as he advanced towards it.

When he went inside, it was only himself and Seifer inside the gymnasium; and those, other than the ones Squall knew to be at the water fountain, must have conveniently gone into the two locker rooms, or at the very least, somewhere else.

"Well Puberty Boy, I've seen you practice with Rinoa, and I'm impressed. Where you trying to impress her or just trying to tire her out?" He scoffed smugly.

"…What are you talking about?" Squall demanded. "We were only doing what the teacher instructed, and why would you care how we were doing the defensive pattern?"

"Whoa! No need to get defensive there lover boy… But, if you would have taken a split-second to look around, you _would_ have noticed that you two were going three times as fast."

"…_So?_"

"I'm just sayin'… people were giving you two some pretty odd stares- if you _know_ what I mean." The tall blonde agitated him furthermore by being vague.

'_Hmph… I have no time for playing these mind games Seifer!_'

Just when Squall thought that he'd finished annoying him, he kept on going. "Heh, I know that look; I can see it from a mile away. You don't like me figuring you out so easily, do you? Are your walls falling down Squally?"

"…Shut up. You're wrong anyway." The other adolescent countered coldly, averting his eyes.

"We'll just see about that, and remember,**_ everyone's_** going to be watching for that one little _slip_." He lastly taunted before going out into the hallway.

"Oh, I'm glad you two didn't start brawling again." Squall flinched; it was Mr. Janis coming out from his office by the exit door. Then, he seemingly looked outside the other door, to see if it was all-clear for some reason.

'_Did he hear..any…of that?_' Squall thought hastily in panic.

"-Now I normally don't talk ill of my students, but I can understand why you'd lose your temper with him around, personalities like Seifer's don't exactly… mesh well others." He divulged while gathering some things scattered about on the bleacher.

"Sir…Why are you talking about this? I mean, isn't it a little…unprofessional?"

"Oh, well I suppose it is actually.. Forget about what I just said." He realized after finally putting things in order. "On another topic, how do you like the class so far, is it any better?"

"Yeah…it kind of is. Less frustrating when you have someone to practice with."

"Yes, I guess that would make it less frustrating. Between Friday and today, I do tend to notice that you _and_ Miss Heartilly seem to connect well when you're practicing together, almost like a spark you might say. But, in all honesty, I had been a little worried at the speed you two were going at though, so in the future, try to slow down. Sometimes your partners might not be able to handle the same intensity as you can, and I don't want to have you both injure yourselves."

"…It won't happen again." He assured the teacher absentmindedly.

'_He noticed it too; this is getting bad… Was Seifer actually right?_'

"Good. Well the others should be coming back soon, and then we'll start up again."

Almost as if he said the magic words, nearly everyone started to filter back into the gym once more, and Squall internally cringed at this notion, his stance immediately stiffening.

'_Here we go again…_'

A very significant moment later, Rinoa started sauntering energetically towards him, her face mustering a tiny smile throughout her otherwise tired expression.

"Ready to go again?" She asked exuberantly, surprisingly still full of life.

"……_Hmm…_ _Wh_at?"

"_Oh dear,_ _he must not be feeling right about something…He's spacing out again._" Rinoa noiselessly worried to herself.

"Okay," At that point, Squall resumed to his normal attentive self, "-now that you've all gotten warmed up, we'll be doing something extra-special for today's lesson, since everyone had done far better -_and faster_- than my original expectations. We'll be learning a very unique and rare offensive movement, only learned for SeeD-level combat."

The crowd of students, save Squall and Seifer, automatically awed in prospect of learning this new technique and highly anticipated the details of what the movement entailed.

"As I was saying, seeing as this move _can_ inflict severe bodily harm if used incorrectly or inattentively, you'll take turns in helping your partner practice it solo until I say otherwise. Even if I do come over and find that both partners can execute it properly, you won't be using it on each other; instead you'll practice it against me, since we wouldn't have enough time for everyone to learn the defensive movements as well, **_and_** for some liability issues."

After taking a breath and getting out his infamous polished ebony bo, Mr. Janis started to explain the various movements and little nuances in each step of the six-move combination. Squall, like all of the others, gradually, but surely, became enthralled, and ultimately meandered towards the notion of, '_He must have been a SeeD himself before coming here, there's no other way he'd be pulling this off otherwise._'

Eventually, when the teacher ended his demonstration, and before anyone dared to start trying the combo for themselves, some reactive chatter started to float around briefly about what they all witnessed. Contrary to the majority of their classmates, Rinoa bravely dragged Squall away by the hand and dared to be the first ones to attempt the SeeD-rank attack combo.

"Squall, would it be okay if you helped me try this first? It seems really interesting but I didn't quite get the idea of the last couple steps."

'_Sure, anything to keep their eyes off me for a change…_'

"…Ok." He mumbled nonchalantly, unconsciously scanning the room at the same time.

After Squall had gotten a safe distance clear from Rinoa, back leaning casually against the wall, she got into the beginning stance, toes pointing outward, knees bent and everything.

"…Go ahead." He shot at her, arms crossing in contemplation.

"Here goes nothing…" She nervously mumbled.

She took one fast stride forward, went into a speedy side slide, cartwheeled and pretended to hit the anonymous defender, and then the adolescent gracefully dropped to the ground and used her right foot to hook her imaginary foe's legs to make him/her/it imaginarily trip. Then, she paused.

"Okay, so how does that last part go?"

The brooding partner slowly got out of his previously angled position and went to aid his cohort.

"Hold on…" He stalled while properly creating some distance in between the two of them.

"Aren't you going to guide me through it?" Rinoa quizzically wondered aloud.

"Actually… I'm sort of terrible with words, so instead, I'll be doing it myself to show you."

"Oh. Are you sure you can do it? _I mean…_ it did look kinda complicated…"

"…Positive." Squall responded monosyllabically, still readying himself.

'_At least… I think I can, with all of this… energy that I seem to have this morning, I've got to be able to pull this stunt off._'

He thoughtfully paused for a moment to calm his steadily increasing nerves, eyes focusing, adrenaline pumping.

'_One. Two. Three-_'

As he commenced, Squall seamlessly blended the advancing and sliding motions as if it was supposed to be a single action. Then, he immediately did the broad weapon-wielder's variation of Rinoa's cartwheel; he did a one-handed backwards somersault with his Gunblade firmly secured with his other hand. After a fraction of a second later, he stood erect and forcefully delivered a slash across to what was most-likely the invented perpetrator's abdomen, in succession, Squall mirrored Rinoa's poised decent onto the ground and quite possibly made the make-believe thing trip using the broad side of his weapon. It would have fallen very easily, _if_ by chance, it was alive. No such luck here though.

Gathering all the strength he could, Squall got up from his knees, and while he had that brief instant to spare, he used it wisely to visualise what he had to accomplish next.

'_Okay, now I've got to do a … back flip, then a leaping downwards hack then shift the movement into an advancing side strike. That won't be too hard… Wait. -Did I say back flip? Hyne, I just hope that I don't send myself to the hospital…_'

Taking a miniscule pause, he unknowingly vaulted his hands behind himself and before he knew what he was doing, he had landed back on his feet a little shakily once more after actually landing the flipping motion, and continued on with the last two moves. Even though he had indeed achieved the hardest part of the whole combo, he still wasn't completely satisfied with himself somehow. Instead of marvelling in his own achievements, he was examining at his severely gashed and bleeding left wrist, caused by a slip during the mid-air transition. Rinoa immediately flocked over to him.

"Wow… that _was _pretty spectacular Squall, you were right about being able to pull this thing off. Nearly everyone stopped to watch you, even the teacher!" She squealed excitedly. Then she saw his red-drenched wrist.

"Are you …okay?"

"Yeah…_ I'm.. _all right I suppose."

After that, Squall stayed silent and simply walked away, into the solitary boys' change room, uncaring that his hand required some medical attention and he was constantly dripping blood on the gym floor and himself in the process.

Inside, he sat down on one of the benches, clasped his hands together – despite the unimaginable stinging, dipped his head downward and watched the blood trickle down his hands, collecting into a dark crimson red pool onto the tiles.

'_Yeah, I'm fine… **if** you're talking about the cut that is. But having all of those people looking? That's where I'm not fine, what was I trying to do...?_'

'-_Show off?_'

'_Maybe._'

'-_Prove myself?_'

'_Possibly._'

'-_Impress Rinoa?_'

'**_NO._**'

'_If anything, I was trying to **avoid** being near her, giving the wrong impression, causing people to look… But I still screwed **that** up anyway. Ugh… I hate it when Seifer's right too, about the 'slip' –well… he probably meant something else-, about the people watching… Just about Hyne-forsaken **everything!**_'

He released his hands from their interconnecting hold and uncontrollably pounded against the wooden bench in anger with both fists. He instantaneously recoiled from that action, deeply regretting ever doing it; his left wrist started to writhe further in pain and copiously poured out with even more blood.

'_Argh… Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! I might not have sent myself to the hospital, but it looks like I'll be taking a trip to the infirmary if this doesn't stop. Ugh… it looks as if there was a bloody massacre here, better start washing this out…_'

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Twenty minutes later, Squall came out, still clad in his blood-speckled gym clothes. He'd just spent two minutes washing out the blood off his hands and forearms, and the other 18 to clean the scarlet-tinged mess he'd made in the locker room. The reason why it took so long was because every time he'd clean a spot, he'd be bleeding all over another place when his make-shift toilet paper band-aids became fully saturated with his AB-type blood. After the time-sapping ordeal, he thanked Hyne that he wasn't a janitor.

Also, another thing he thanked Hyne for was that he _wouldn't _need to visit the infirmary, as the hemorrhaging had finally ceased late into the twenty minutes, and that'd he just need some anti-biotic cream and a very, very large bandage.

"_Erm…Sir?_" He solicited to the close-by S.D teacher who was conveniently watching a nearby group.

"Yes Squall?"

"Do you happen to have any large bandages for the gash on my wrist?" The said teacher took the moment to examine the lacerated arm.

"_Hmm… _bandages yes, but you'll need a really good anti-septic solution too, and that… I don't have. You'll have to visit the infirmary for that. You can go now to get that tended to."

'_Damn. No avoiding it now, Dr. Kadowaki will have my head for this; it'll be…two, maybe three, times this month alone._'

"Okay."

'_Better wear my other gym shirt. Wait a minute… that's all bloody too. She'll probably think I enjoy getting into all of those messes. Nevermind… Why should I care anyway? Regardless, I really need to start doing some more laundry…_'

Exiting the gym, he took one last look of the class. Nobody stared back, as everyone was busy helping their partners or busy trying the complex movements for themselves; everyone except for one that was.

After a ten minute all-inclusive trip to the infirmary, whereas seven of those minutes were spent aimlessly walking around, Squall came back with a huge tan-coloured bandage and a slight lecture-induced migraine and everything. Two seconds later, the bell rang. The no-longer-bleeding-everywhere teenager wasn't very happy at all.

'_Oh _w_hat **marvelous** luck I have today! First I cause a HUGE scene by tripping over some oaf in the hallway and again by practicing like a massive speed demon. Then, I get paranoid over what Seifer and the teacher casually mention and, it gets to the point where I can't even help Rinoa, because I'm nervous that I'll give off the wrong impression, so I end up making an even bigger spectacle of myself by doing the damn attack pattern and created a blood bath in the locker room only to waste my time to clean the whole thing up **and** get harassed by the doctor in the process. What's next?-_'

As soon as Squall thought that nothing else could possibly happen to him today, there was Rinoa who ambushed him in the unpopulated gym, abducting him to the also unoccupied, but more private storage room. And no, she wasn't trying to seduce him either. To say the least, Squall was confused as hell about all of this.

"…What are _you_ doing?" He questioned confoundedly.

"I just teenager-napped you so we could talk and not be heard, and because I really need some answers here."

"…_Teenager-napped?" _Squall intoned sarcastically, trying not to make fun of her too much, but blatantly failed.

"Oh, be quiet you _meanie!_ I only said that because I couldn't say 'kidnapped' because you're not a kid and 'Squall-napped' sounds like I'm putting you to sleep."

"But you _are._" He voiced daringly, strangely not opting to keep it to himself this time.

"Ooh… _Shut up!_" Rinoa laughed in frustration, if that was even possible. After that, she became serious though.

"Okay… can I ask my question now?" Squall nodded.

"What I wanted to know was… why were you acting all… _strange_ in class today?"

"_Erm_…" He paused to look at the ground, searching his brain to find a suitable answer to her question, but couldn't.

"I… don't really know Maybe… I might have been…_hmm_… subconsciously compensating for _something?_ Nevermind, none of that made any sense…"

"Well, that's okay Squall. I guess some things just can't always be answered I suppose."

'_Sorry Rinoa, It just that… I don't think I can deal with a lot right now, and downright admitting like this, is kind of difficult to do at the moment.'_

"Anyways, I might know what's been bugging you today and… as much as it pains me to say it," She then glanced sheepishly at her hands, "…if you really can't handle being public about us, I'll try and help you get over it. In the meantime, I'll try my best not to act overly suspicious to draw attention… even if I'm not very happy with the whole _'dodge my boyfriend'_ idea."

"..Okay." He responded awkwardly.

'_This is going to be hard on her, I'm almost certain of that. I don't think I'll ever be able to go public about this, but I'll try anyway. Regardless, even if that accident never happened, I'm pretty sure that I still wouldn't be very open person, then again, everyone has some potential to change, so I might have some hope for this..._'

"Maybe I'll even doodle decoy _'RH plus another guy's initials'_ in some big hearts on my binders to help… if you want."

"I think I'll pass on that." He replied flatly.

"Well, we should get out before people start coming back out then, _huh?_"

"Yeah…"

"See you later then." She said somberly and left right there.

'_This isn't good… Not in any way possible..._'

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After he had just gotten into his second-period classroom, Squall sluggishly walked towards his seat, and as he approached his vacant desk, he haphazardly tossed his textbooks and other things on to its' surface, halfheartedly sat down and dropped his head and arms onto the aforementioned layer of school supplies. He was so dazed that he didn't even hear the bell ring, or couldn't even to pay any attention to the teacher who had started to drone on about Hyne knows what.

"Okay class, today we'll be-"

'…**_if you really can't handle being public about us, I'll try and help you get over it. In the meantime, I'll try my best not to act overly suspicious to draw attention… even if I'm not very happy with the whole 'dodge my boyfriend' idea.' _**

'… _I feel so damn guilty for hiding all of this… just because I'm not ready to face the others. Meanwhile, she's being a good sport about the whole ridiculous situation. I feel like such a jerk…_'

"-and make sure that you've read all the stories we've covered-"

'_I'd like to make this easier for us, but why can't I seem to get rid of those paranoid thoughts of mine?_'

"-And be forewarned! I do dock points for spelling errors and poor penmanship in your answers, so please keep your-"

'_I'm confused…I can't even keep my head on straight now..._'

"Mr. Leonhart, pay attention!" Mrs. Pine screeched. Squall immediately lifted his head. "While you've been dozing off, the rest of the class were reviewing for tomorrow's test! Now how do you expect to pass this if you're not even awake?"

'_I **was** awake, you bat. And besides, when **aren't** we studying or reviewing for a stupid test…_'

At that moment, a few people nearby started laughing.

'_Did I say that out loud? Maybe I might have mumbled it or something. Yeah, that's probably it …with all of the oddities happening today. I hope she didn't hear it though.._'

"Everyone quiet now, _shhhh! _Stop laughing! _Argh…_ Squall, I'll need to talk to you for a moment after class."

'…_I'm busted._'

The rest of the class dragged on slowly, almost as if time itself refused to pass, but at last, the shrill bell tolled and everyone was finally liberated from this educational nightmare, everyone that was, except for Squall. After the class's size had shrunken from twenty-seven students to only one, Mrs. Pine commenced her 'talk' with the stoic teenager, seated behind her desk while Squall borrowed a closer classmate's place, now sitting adjacent to the bureau and the teacher herself.

"Squall, do you have any idea as to why you've been acting out of turn these last few days?" She inquired with an unusual hint of concern, in contrast to her otherwise stern and vindictive tone.

'_Oh, I forgot, she's a part-time psychologist too. This'll be fun._' Squall mentally retorted with the usual dose of sarcasm.

"Not a clue." He untruthfully chimed. Mrs. Pine's scrutinizing gaze intensified while she craned the non-seated portion body towards him, as if she was about to let spill a huge secret.

"Okay, by any chance, are these outbursts payback for… _making a scene when I found you unconscious that one day?_"

'_This is absolutely hilarious, that's quite possibly the **furthest **thing from the truth… Okay, I better stop mocking her now and give her an answer before she starts drooling on her desk._'

"_No…I_ don't know… I'm not trying to be the class idiot if that's what you mean." Suddenly, Squall somehow felt Mrs. Pine's head deflate. How and why he felt this, well… anyone's guess was as good as his.

"Oh…? _Hmm_…_err_ - I _see_," She faltered, trying to regain a little composure, "Well…either way, try not to distract the class any further, even _if _you don't inherently don't agree with what or how I'm teaching you students. _Is that understood?_"

"Yes…" He responded indifferently.

"Very well then, you may leave."

As he left, Squall couldn't help but think of one last offensive notion and it was, '_Mrs. Pine,_ d_on't quit your day job._'

A couple minutes later, the cerulean-eyed teenager had finally reached his ground-floor locker, wishing that it'd be the end of the day but, fully knew that he was only halfway there.

'_Lunch, Math, History, and then I'm out of this place… Hyne, I just wish that everyone else would go away today…' _

Squall momentarily broke his thoroughly-sullen train of thought in order to open his locker, and just when he wasn't expecting anything peculiar to happen, something did. That something was 2 or 3 inches in diameter, light blue in color, purple in ink, and had just fallen from the top of his locker.

'_-Huh what's this? A paper crane? With today going the way it is, I'm not surprised of anything anymore. Hmm… looks like there's writing on this. Three guesses for who it's from. Guess number one, Rinoa, guess number two, Rinoa, and final guess number three… Rinoa. Bingo, we have a winner!_'

He unfolded the second note of the day from Rinoa and read it straight away, like the perplexed individual that he was.

_Hey, would you like to have lunch with me outside? I promise we'll be alone with no one watching us. Offer expires 11:05am._

_- Rinoa_

_P.S – I'll be on the benches near my locker, pretending to look through my stuff._

_P.P.S – Don't crumple up this note; it took me forever to make the wings just perfect. _

'_Okay, how could we eat outside in this kind of weather, it's nice but nowhere near appropriate to have a picnic, and there's still some leftover snow on the ground…Then again, it's Rinoa we're talking about here… I guess it couldn't hurt, and it's the least I could do after this morning's catastophe._'

Squall looked at his watch and saw that he only had two minutes to get there, so he quickly took his coat and lunch and sped up his pace greatly to catch Rinoa. The lockers, various murals and flyers became a palette of mixed colours to his peripheral vision, and with his black coat swishing noisily in conjunction with his near-running pace, his direct line of sight was now looking further and further for that distinguishable light blue lock and oak bench with the raven-haired girl on it, searching for that definite surge vibrant colour in contrast to the otherwise mundane hues in the hallway's vicinity. A minute and thirty-two seconds later, he got to that said destination and ultimately got to her in the nick of time; she had been just preparing to get up from her spot.

"So you're taking up my offer after all, excellent… Follow me. Good, you brought your coat, this is perfect! Lets' go!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Oops… Hold on. I got to put this stuff away first."

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As the minutes passed, Rinoa led Squall outside, more specifically towards the snowy, and not to mention very _wet_ soccer field, and then as they had reached the left-hand extremity of the playing area, they took a detour around a crescent of trees, and subsequent to that, they arrived to a shed. …A very old and rusty-looking shed by the looks of it.

Nevermind… the word 'shed' implies a certain amount of dignity, so this was a shack …or maybe a shanty in terms of its'… shabbiness. Squall arched his eyebrows twice for the predicament that he'd gotten himself into.

"C'mon Squall, it's not going to bite, come in. I unlocked the door already." Rinoa enticed, and seeing as he agreed to this little adventure, the male had no choice but to comply, but did so very reluctantly. Once inside however, Squall had changed his mind severely, and mentally lamented on the fact that his father had never taught him about not judging books by their cover, or in this case, sheds by their rust.

The inside of the cabin appeared as if it was probably used for storing desks and chairs during a long-ago age, most likely when the school was much newer _and_ smaller. There were three older, but serviceable wooden desk and chair sets, and it also looked like someone, probably Rinoa herself, had gone through some effort to clean it all up, as the place really sparkled with some of the various infused antique and modern touches. The floor was clean, some of the shelves against the far wall where lined with some recent books, large comforters, and even an extra water bottle or juice box or two. Most noticeable of all, there were some cross-stitch needle-point pictures framed on the right side wall. After Squall had taken his time to take in his surroundings, Rinoa took it upon herself to give a thorough speech of the quaint shed's rich but brief history.

"It took me the better part of Grade 10 to make this place useable; I even had to put my old lock on the outside so that the door wouldn't swing open continuously. Good news is that there's a lock hole on the inside too, so I can make sure that nobody comes in on us. Neat, huh?"

"…Nice."

"I figured that you'd like it. Well, we'd better not let our lunches go to waste. I'll just lock this…_up_ now and…there we go."

'_Going to all this trouble just so we could be together? Strangely enough, it somehow makes me feel lucky about this…_'

Lunch was a relatively uneventful affair, just a few side comments shared amongst the bland, common denominator which most people referred to as eating. Nothing really perked up anywhere until after they where both done. Maybe this was due to the fact that for some strange and possibly hormone-induced reason, lover boy over on the chair by the door couldn't help but occasionally glance at his frontward-facing companion, one Rinoa Heartilly. Even the lover boy himself couldn't explain why that was either.

'_Why do I get these sudden fits of attraction out of nowhere? This is really embarrassing…and it only seems to happen when no one else is around too… Maybe I'm just very apprehensive in public, or their opinions right now might...quite possibly affect me too much at this point to be.. open about this whole thing… Hyne, I haven't been so confused since I was five… and that's what's been aggravating me the most out of this outrageously sudden situation…I wish that there was something, if anything, to take my mind off this…_'

"Do I have something in my teeth?" The single girl across unexpectedly blurted out.

"No."

"Then… why are you looking at me like that?" She wondered teasingly, her dark eyes surveying his expression extra-hard with a smile starting to dance across her mouth.

"...I don't know.. Being alone together is... kind of a nice change, rather than having to constantly watch what I do or don't do all the time."

"I guess… that would be a relief I suppose," Rinoa said demurely, "-but… how do you manage it everyday?"

"I… normally don't worry about that, but today… I felt like I was under some kind of microscope."

"Hm…Do you suppose that you're just feeling a bit paranoid today because of us… being together?"

Squall stood stock-still, not saying the slightest peep.

"Oh, so that's what it is then… Well, if that's the case, try it from this angle, just pretend that I'm just another face in the crowd and that you want nothing to do with me. Would _that_ help?"

'_No, because I want_ _you to be someone with me.._' He thought automatically.

"No, that wouldn't work well…" He half-heartedly admitted. "I'm just… having a bit of trouble… letting go, that's all…"

"-Letting go of _what?_ What people think of you? Don't let them bring you down; you'll _always_ be a million times better than what they can possibly ever think of you."

"I know, it just… hard."

"Well, as I've said before, until you're ready, I'll be waiting for you when they disappear, then we can be together and happy."

"You'd… do that?" Rinoa nodded.

'_Thank you._'

"You're welcome." She replied almost uncannily. "Now I do believe that you still owe me a little something from our last little date if I'm not mistaken."

"You… want to go to the _movies?_" Squall obliviously guessed.

"_Nooo_… I meant a kiss Squall."

"But… we're at school."

"Oh Squall, you've got to learn that the PDA doesn't apply here, but if you're _that_ adamant about it, stand over there. That's where the cabin isn't technically on any school grounds."

'_-And she knows all of this **why?** It's almost like a conspiracy here, but it's kind of my fault as well… Regardless, it was never really was the PDA that's been bothering me…'_

Squall immediately looked at his soaking shoe and kept his gaze there.

"No Rinoa, I meant that it's…kind of new.. for me._" _He phrased very awkwardly.

"Yes, I kinda figured that, but you know what?" His eyes immediately darted up.

"…What?"

"You've gotta start somewhere. …Or _else_ your next kiss won't be until that senile old granny snogs you when you're forty." She teased.

"…Very funny. Did I ever tell you about how much I despise it when people bring that up?" He countered dryly.

"_So?_ Prove me wrong."

'_Oh, I'll prove you wrong alright._'

Squall got up, and went around the desk he'd been using while the other stood up. Then, he approached the now-standing girl, inched closer and delivered a small kiss to her… on the cheek. Rinoa went slightly pink and fidgeted away from him on the spot.

"There you go," He concluded devilishly with an evil grin, "-a kiss, just like you wanted."

'_I can play your game too Rinoa… You're not the only one with a strategy here, just remember that._'

"_Ooh…_ You're a clever one Squall, but then again, that's what makes you… well you."

"…Whatever."

"Anyways, this was nice," Rinoa commented, and then she checked her watch. "Oh drat, I though we had some more time! We'd better go or we'll be late. Would you like to come back tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Then it's a date."

After both adolescents had grabbed their respective things, Squall stepped aside when Rinoa approached the door and maneuvered the key into her thumb and forefinger. Then, she started to worm the key into the older lock's grooves and its' specific indentations. Soon, she started to wriggle more fervently and began to noticeably fret more and more.

"…I can't… seem to.. get this lock… to open……_it's stuck_."

'_Not this again..._'

"Come on you stupid lock…_Open!_" She forcibly rumbled. Squall started to get a little bit anxious and panicky at this point.

"Rinoa…let me try to open it."

"NO!"

"**_Why not?_**" He barked.

"Because if you do it wrong, the key will get stuck." She fired back fiercely.

"What's the worst that could happen if I tried?"

"Well…_uh…_ we'd have to ram the door! And… I don't want that!"

"And **_why_** would that matter…" The taller of the two drawled impatiently.

"Because I've been going here every Monday for the last two years and it's like…tradition! You wouldn't want me to break tradition because the door broke now would you?"

"A door is fixable Rinoa, and we couldn't possibly stay stuck in here just because of a stupid piece of rectangular lumber. Hell, I'll even repair the damn thing if I have to."

"No, we're staying in here and that's final." She concluded.

"Rinoa, you're being completely insane-"

"-_Pfft…pft.. __Ha, hah, aha, ha, ha…_"

"…What's in Hyne's name is so funny?"

"You.._you.._"

"-You what?" He irritably spat.

"You… _fell _for it. I was only joking." Rinoa joshed, Squall instantly looked away from dire embarrassment.

'_How could I have been so gullible? Urgh…I feel like such a fool.'_

"Squall… Squall? I'm sorry; it was only supposed to be a small practical joke…But I admit that I probably went a little too far there… but I couldn't really help my self you know, since… you were taking this so _darn_ seriously." She apologetically confessed. Squall turned his head back, face now gazing at her directly.

"Yeah… I've been known to do that… a lot." He disclosed sheepishly.

"So _that's_ why I always find it so fun to tease you!"

"_Okay_…Shouldn't we be _trying _to get to class by now?"

"Oh…right, right." She mumbled before unlocking the door and opening it. "Urg… the door… won't budge!"

"…I'm not falling for that one Rinoa." Squall stated firmly.

"No, I'm not kidding about this, I can't make it open. The cold temperature must have messed up the door's hinges somehow. Look."

When Rinoa pushed hard against the door with both hands, with her knees forcing her weight forward and everything, Squall knew that she wasn't lying.

"Stop for a moment." She stopped immediately and looked at him with a lost little girl look present in her eyes.

"What do we do now?"

"I'll try pushing it and if that doesn't work, we'll have to attempt opening it together. Is that okay?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Using the leverage of his heavier and sturdier frame, Squall tried the same method that Rinoa had attempted earlier to try and dislodge the immovable door. However, despite the extra force implied, the door remained frozen in place. In another consecutive attempt, he shifted his technique from a frontward pushing motion to one where he was pressing against the door with his back and leg muscles. To no avail, that didn't work either, so, a fed-up Rinoa took it upon herself to charge into the door beside Squall to get it open.

'_Crack! Swing! Thunk. Thunk! Ooof!_'

"Sorry…"

With the severity of the additional vigour caused from Rinoa's forceful tackle, the door swung open so violently that Squall instantaneously fell onto the surrounding snow, and then Rinoa sorta fell on top of Squall who then said '_Ooof!_'.

'_Step. Step. Step._'

"Rinoa? …Squall? …What are you guys doing here together...lying on top of each other like _that?_" A mysterious voice questioned.

While Squall uselessly tried to reposition his sights to see who it was, Rinoa awkwardly jolted off from their compromising position and turned a deep crimson red after identifying the two interlopers.

"Oh…_Hi _Selphie… _Hi _Quistis…" She mumbled uneasily.

'_Oh great, now the Moomba's going to get out of the bag for sure…_' He lastly thought before final moment of his perfect little secret had just been shattered. Deep down, he internally knew that it wouldn't be the same for them… ever again.

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Wow, this is now officially the longest chapter of my writing career - ever.

Exhausted? I'm not. I'm just glad that I finally finished this stupid thing after a month and a half of a whole lot of nothing. Well I hope that it was worth for you guys. As always, review with whatever you people have to say!

Thanks a bunch!

_-EmeraldLatias_


	3. Chapter III – Bubbling Over

**Author's Notes – **Every time I write these author's notes, I always manage to feel better and better about the chapter that preceded them, and this was no exception. A lot of people were kind enough to send their condolences about my friend; they also gave some great feedback and balanced constructive criticism, along with some compliments tossed in the mix, so… there's nothing more to be said. _-I love_ writing this stuff, I truly do!

However, I'd like to point something out before I start, and it's that I'm now trying to reduce the length of all of the newer editions (not super-short though) in an effort to get these instalments out quicker and to generally improve things. As you can see, since my chapters are so long, the quality risks more to dip a bit towards the end- because I **_do_** tend to get tired of re-reading it for spelling mistakes and other things after the tenth time and so… by doing that, I think it'll make things much nicer. Besides, sitting there reading this all night doesn't exactly increase your interest, _now does it? _

Either way, let me know how you guys like this little experiment so I can make any adjustments **_if_** necessary, okay?

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**Chapter III – Bubbling Over**

Rolling onto his abdomen, Squall currently felt as if his heart resided in his throat, forming an enormous lump in the now-constricted part of his esophagus. Along with a wide-eyed expression, the only male in the surrounding area acted upon the unexpected urge to carefully extract himself from the snowy ground beneath him, while also taking the precautionary measure of a slow and controlled ascent, avoiding the supplementary mess that a sudden trip might have ensued.

Every action, reaction and breath shared from then on spiralled towards intermingling spells of haziness, uncertainty and various emotions tinged with a foreboding sensation of dread for him. Even standing up beside the other accused in this situation proved to be difficult in this thicket of draining mental afflictions.

"Well… it sure is a surprise to see you…_ err.._ here." Selphie stated, inflecting some cheery tones here and there.

Rinoa gave her a quizzical look, "Selph, what are you talking about? You _know_ I always come here on Mondays,_ remember?_"

"No Rin, I was talking about Squall."

"_Oh…_ -_M_y mistake, so why exactly are you here then?" The misinterpreting female inquired, trying to divert attention from their current state of affairs. The brunette stopped for a second to thoughtfully tug at her hair.

"Well…last week, I switched my day here with Quistis's, so she'd get my Thursday when I had my lunchtime prom committee meeting and I'd get her Friday, but that day, I was a little stressed… There were **massive problems **with some budget cuts that came up and fundraising _disasters_, on top of… well a _lot _of other things. _Any_ways… last Friday, I got so caught up with looking over new receipts for extra supplies that I forgot to take some of my things back with me later, so… I figured that I'd come in to look after you were done, then… well, this happened."

"So…then, why is Quistis here?" Rinoa enquired politely.

"I lost my set of the key for the lock at home, so I asked Quistis to see if she had hers and she told me that she did. But since she didn't want me to lose her key, she came with me in case if you left already."

"Okay, _now_ that makes sense."

"…Okay, now I'm going to leave, _if_ you don't mind." Squall muttered, as he distanced himself from the perpetual mindless chatter.

"Hey… Wait a minute there!" He froze. Actually, the much smaller Tilmitt had energetically dragged him back by grasping his coat's sleeve with both hands. "You never answered why you were here with Rinny."

"…And _why_ would I have to?" He answered unapologetically, showing no trace of any hindering emotions.

"-Because I can tell that there's something odd between you two. Rin never brings anyone here on Mondays, right Quisty?"

"I'd… rather not get into this Selphie, Rinoa has the right to do whatever she pleases… even though I wouldn't mind having some questions answered about this… unusual circumstance…" The blonde admitted. The confession seemed to have triggered off something in Selphie's mindset somehow.

The shortest female's bright green eyes illuminated with an incandescent gleam, lips tightening together, now looking as if she was restraining herself from bursting out a million questions that she possibly formulated towards the pair already, adjacent to both in front and behind her. But first, she had unclasped her hands from the black-coated individual.

"So, are you two finally going out?" She blurted outspokenly. Squall's eyes narrowed in confusion behind her.

'_What do you mean, 'finally' going out? Did she…notice something before?_'

After his arm was released from Selphie's grip but caught by her question, Squall stood still for the moment, his gaze secretly shifted towards the other person's. She discreetly nodded in return, giving him silent approval to depart the uncomfortable scene.

"You can go. I'll take care of this." Rinoa near-silently shot to him with a bit of a masked grin.

As he walked away, he put on an aloof façade and issued a void '…_Whatever._' and left without saying another word. Once he was nearly out of an earshot range from small gathering surrounding the cabin, his shed the smokescreen.

'_I sure as hell hope I didn't give off any real clues to our relationship, although I'm pretty sure that Rinoa is go- …Hold on, did I just hear her say something about last Friday? Forget about it- Forget about it- Keep going…_'

Trudging through the soggy path, Squall forced himself to keep his head forwards amid his several attempts to look back, straining himself to concentrate on something else instead. The only thing that managed to pull him away from his thoughts was the moment where he stopped past a small pond and observed the no-longer passing scenery.

Gazing upwards, head tilted, back against the coarse bark of a rather large maple tree, he saw the birds zooming in and out of the view, darting past in mere seconds, chirps resonating erratically as they zipped through the barely-clothed tawny branches. The trees themselves seemed to be tickling the clouds with their height, and the remaining snow-encrusted leaves danced across the rising blue expanse, with the carrying wind casting off its' crystalline flecks downward in the process. As the sole being in the miniature collection of gigantesque trees, he couldn't help but reflect upon the fact that he was, as a whole, very insignificant on the grand scale of things, that, along with the notion that he couldn't believe he didn't take any notice of this grandiose landscape and its' refreshingly earthy scent the first time around.

'_Tap. Tap. Tap._'

"…_Rinoa?"_ Squall mumbled, breaking out of his miniature reverie. "…What are you doing here? Weren't you just talking to-"

"That was seven minutes ago, and we just stopped now so that we wouldn't be late for third, what's been bugging you? I thought you would have been inside already."

"_-No_thing. …Just got a little distracted." He asserted truthfully. "Where did the other two go?"

"Don't worry about them, Selphie and Quistis always go back on a different route. They never go my way; they can't seem to handle getting a little wet."

"You mean, there's a…dryer path and you've been making me go through muck on purpose?"

"Well, if you put that way then…yeah, I have. So… what are _you_ doing to do about it Leonhart? _Hmm?_ Push me into a puddle?" Rinoa playfully intoned, positioning herself on the tip of her toes to make it seem like she had more presence.

"No… because I know for a fact that you'll shove me into another pool of water as soon as I do, and we'll both be very late and wet for class. Also, everyone will be suspicious of _why_ we're both late and wet in coming to class."

"Ah, you're no fun… Besides, some people already know _anyway, _so what's the big deal?" She informed him semi-seriously, laughing almost.

'_You're bluffing. You can't keep a straight face or serious tone when you're trying to fool me. That's your dead giveaway._'

"Nice try Rinoa."

"Squall, I'm ..not…_pfft.._ joking, they _kn_..know. _Aha…_ Okay, why am I _…ha…_laughing, this…really.._hee…_isn't funny."

'_Splash!_'

"-Maybe _that_ was." Squall added somewhat amusingly.

"Ooh… I'm going to get you for that one mister! _Pift…_I just can't believe you tricked me so easily! _Arg… And _these are new boots too!" She squirmed in the shallow depths of the completely melted section of snow.

"…Glad to be of service." He responded sarcastically.

"-Nevermind about that, if I'm wet, you're going to get soaked too!" Rinoa exclaimed as she stretched an arm forward and tried to yank Squall into the pond with her. He stepped back and away, and thus prevented anything of that nature from happening.

"I'm going to class, you can stay there if you want, but I wouldn't advise you to do that though."

Right after he turned around to leave, Rinoa halted his footsteps with her voice, "Wait for me, I'm…getting up now. _Ooof!_ -Okay, on a second thought, maybe I can't get up. Do you mind helping me?"

"Fine. No tricks though."

"I promise."

Then, Squall strode over and lent his hand to aid her out of her compromising position. A second later, when he realized that he wasn't by any means wet, he became genuinely surprised.

'_Whap!_'

"Got you! Now we're even." She declared as Squall was wiping off the remains of the ball of slush thrown to his face.

"_Mph._.Can we go to class now? I think I heard the five minute warning bell."

"Yeah we'd better go now; actually… we should start running."

"What ever you say, puddle pants."

"After you, slush mouth." Rinoa concluded as they finally started to dash towards the school building, making huge imprints in the remaining snowy spots as they went past.

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The next day arrived so rapidly, that, before Squall knew it, he was already going down the hallway to the gym with Rinoa clicking around behind him, sometimes stepping on his heels even. As they conveniently passed through the doors closely after one another, there seemed to be an abrupt change in temperature. More accurately, it was the figurative heat radiating from the numerous suggestive stares they happened to be receiving from Selphie, Quistis and a few others.

'…_Maybe she wasn't kidding after all. This is starting to get just as bad as the time they all thought I was fooling around with her. How did it spread so fast though…_'

Before Squall had the chance to say a syllable, he was subsequently cut off.

"Why are you gawking at us like that? Haven't you stopped to think that maybe we came at the same time because we happen to share the same bus?" Rinoa edged in, meanwhile, he was floored. Not only was that a lie - he had driven to school today and they'd spent a little time together beforehand, she'd also beat him to the punch to telling them off too.

Even though Squall still noticed some people eyeing them together, mentally pairing them up even now, the majority had dissipated the glowers they'd been giving them upon their arrival. He brushed past the group quickly, ignoring the additional looks he'd been getting, and headed towards the locker room to change, blocking all thought patterns other than the ones needed later on to mechanically dress himself in his gym attire.

Pushing past the solid wooden barrier to enter into the change room, he marched towards the nearest benches, set aside his Revolver case and fiddled inside his bag to find the freshly-laundered articles of clothing. Even as he dug deeper, the level of difficulty remained the same. Now mildly pissed off, Squall soon found himself taking out everything and anything that he wasn't looking for from the duffel bag. After the occasional outburst of swearing and curses he placed upon the bag, he finally retrieved the non-stained set he had vainly searched for. As he changed, swapping the pieces of clothing bit by bit, he noticed that when he went to reach down to pick up his Revolver case afterwards, the folds of materiel from his t-shirt sleeves were very snug and constricted his movement greatly.

"_Wonderful._ Just _wonderful_, I guess I never get any breaks do I?" He mouthed to himself faintly.

After taking off the shirt and coaxed the little tag to stick out, he read it to find any possible reason why he'd have to endure a binding shirt for the duration. A towering figure waltzed in, but Squall still ignored the other person while coming to the conclusion that he'd done nothing wrong or out of the ordinarywith what he did with it last night, so he started to put it back on once more, and then disregarded the looming character furthermore. However, his tolerance waned from the intruder's inability to move over time, and the anticipation of hearing another dumb comment to resound through his ear drums started to harm his attention span more as more.

Much to Squall's annoyance, instead of saying something, that figure just smirked, and then lingered around doing nothing more until he acknowledged him on his own.

"…What do you want Seifer? You're obviously not here to change, shower or to use the bathroom." Squall interjected tiredly.

"Nothing, just wondering…" He baited.

"About _what?_ About how you'll find a way make it through the school year without failing? Good luck on that then." He spat acerbically, half ignoring the bait he was dangling by pulling the shrunken shirt over his head and body instead.

"Yeah, you'd wish. I'm actually thinking about why you were staring at that shirt tag when I walked in. Are you trying to figure out how to act more like a girl than you already are by acting like a housewife or something?"

"…What are you talking about, are you out of your mind?"

"No, I just find it a little queer, even for you Puberty Boy."

"Oh, that's real smart comeback, first you say that I'm going around, screwing Rinoa, and now you're calling me gay? At least if you're going to make an attempt to insult me, try sticking to one story next time."

"No, I find it weird that whenever I say stuff like you doing it with Rin you **_get_** offended. Hell, I only used it in the first place because I know it pisses you off for some reason, _that's why _I'm callin' you gay. Plus, you look like bony girl too, trying to watch your scrawny figure there?"

"Shut up."

"Heh… Well I'm leaving Puberty Boy; it's been fun pushing your buttons." He chanted sardonically as he returned towards the gym doors once more.

After putting back the other unnecessary things he'd taken out earlier, Squall inadvertently caught his reflection in a mirror near the basins while straightening up from his previously bent position. Being slightly curious to perceive for himself if what the tall blonde had said contained a shred of truth, he analysed his mirror-image for a split second before giving judgement. As he faced an identical healthier medium-sized version of himself, with a temporarily more displayed toned upper half, due to his current tee shirt predicament, he walked away instantly.

"…Jackass."

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'_Ding-g!_'

Following a few meaningless minutes, which were wasted for the morning announcements and more attendance sheet drabble, the class immediately started, opening with some small drills meant to warm everyone up. As Squall approached Rinoa to pair up to do the movements, he noticed that she seemed to be a little nervous and apprehensive as the distance between them started to shorten furthermore.

"…Ready?" She articulated dimly, recoiling slightly from the look in his eyes, hers' now eyeing her Pinwheel.

"Listen… I'll try not to go fast. …Or try something stupid." Automatically, he glanced at his healing left wrist, skin still flawed with a faint crimson red line.

"Oh, I thought you be angry right now. …_Guess_ we should start then."

"Not angry_…_ just_ annoyed._" He trailed off falteringly.

"Wait, what do you mean by… annoyed? Is it anything I help you with?"

"_**No**._ Lets' just start, we're already behind."

"Okay." She conceded. "By the way, I like the shirt."

"-Please, can we start _now?_" Squall irritably solicited.

"Sorry, I never knew that you didn't take compliments. Or was it because that was your regular shirt?"

"…Yes." Then he corrected himself a far more subdued tone. "…Not exactly the same though."

"Oh, now I see why you're like this. You must have accidentally shrunk this in the wash, and you're uncomfortable about it. …_Am_ I right?" She chirped in a sing-song manner.

"…Be quiet."

"I knew it!"

'.._And I thought the sleeves were a nuisance…_'

"Miss Heartilly and Mr. Leonhart, could you please join the class in warm-ups, I don't remember giving you two an exemption." The teacher shouted across the gym floor, interrupting everybody's training for a couple of seconds.

"Yes sir." Rinoa dismissively agreed.

Then, Mr. Janis ended his speech. "Good. Everyone else, continue what you were doing."

"…_Now _are we ready to start?" Squall added in a hushed voice.

Rinoa smirked in prospect of this. "Yes. Yes we are."

As he took the offensive part of the drill while she took the defensive, the two took mere seconds to mesh in sync with each other's movements, pacing and their overall tempo. Every time Squall would take a step forward with the first sideways swipe, she'd be there with the balancing downward projectile motion, rendering his blade paralysed into succumbing to the floor. When he'd further the combo with the succeeding flick of the wrist, switching the blade's movement into an upwards hack, that same girl would move sideways and catch the motion with her projectile's intricate edging. And with the proceeding actions, the same thing would result, Squall would do the following attack pattern down to the utmost care and precision and she'd match the attack with an ethereal defence, almost telepathic as it were.

The most surreal thing in Squall's mind was that she wasn't always like this, especially when they first started to practice together when they were locked inside the school. He could vividly remember the earliest instance of this, whereas he almost had to hold back on several occasions or else she would have fallen to the floor by surprise from the most standard things, such as a basic counter. Then, after a few more duels, she had soon become much more capable of holding her own, almost catching **him** off guard during a few moments. Yesterday's events, along with other episodes where he'd gone the extra mile with no explanation, seemed much more explainable to him as he finally put the last pieces of the puzzle to create the recently completed picture.

'_I think I figured out why I've been sometimes acting -swipe- bizarre when we've practiced together. I was -hack- trying to subconsciously restore things to what they were before… When it was -slash- while we were -swipe- -turn- locked in, it was -slice- because I didn't like feeling –sideways swipe- as if I was losing -flick- my –upwards hack- ground as the better fighter. Now it's because -swipe- she's nearly caught up and -hack- I'm trying to escape the fact that our -slash- relationship caused her improvement… With way I've been analysing this **I** should be the part-time psychologist…_'

After he passed the enormous informational train of thought behind him, the pensive adolescent did one more attack movement before he stopped all together. Luckily, Rinoa didn't accidentally belt him like the last time he'd done the same thing. Then, other groups gradually followed suit and ceased their warm-ups within a matter of a half a minute. In the meantime, while they were still waiting for some of the remaining pairs, his partner took it upon herself to adjust her projectile's configurations.

"…So, I'm guessing that you don't want to risk lunch in the shed today, right?" She mumbled downwards to the disk launcher. Squall nodded, he also put up front as well; acting as if there he was rubbing out a persistent blood stain on the hilt of his Revolver.

"…Mind meeting in the library then?" She whispered, still checking over the launcher. Squall answered non-verbally once more, and then the teacher started to teach another movement. It was far simpler than yesterday's SeeD combo, but somewhat interesting none the less.

In a nutshell, the rest of the class was spent towards learning the combination; therefore nothing really exciting happened as far as Squall was concerned, as he and Rinoa had understood the mechanics of it fairly quickly, and nearly grasped the entire movement pattern during the remainder of the hour left. The two things that prevented them from completely getting it was Rinoa's inability to pull out of the offensive's close-range holding position and Squall's difficulty with letting go of his hesitation when it came to another tripping motion. The reason being for Rinoa was that Squall made it too hard to get out of without forcing herself to harm him, and Squall's was caused by a temporary self-induced phobia from an accident during the first time around.

Thankfully, they weren't the worst group when it came to problems; Squall heard just about everyone's when they all complained as they waited for the bell to ring later on in the period, ranging from large cuts and scrapes to people painfully falling on top of each other. After all of the squabbling, he felt lucky that he wasn't Zell's partner; he had topped the list in accidents by how he unintentionally made Olivia hit her head onto a bleacher when it was his turn to be on the offensive.

As the bell tolled to free them all out of the gym, Squall walked slightly slower than usual, glancing at all of those passing him in the corridor. Then, as soon as they all were in front on him, he sighed and stopped.

'_Another period to go…_'

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After the next period agonizingly crept by slowly, and he'd made sure that his lunch went by ultra-fast, Squall ambled down the corridors fairly quickly yet maintained a veneer of normality. As the teenager put away the remnants his lunch and gathered some of the books that he wished to return when he reached the library, he kept his eyes peeled for Rinoa. Having no luck in that regard, he figured that it'd be best if he resumed his current pace in order to **not** appear worthy of any onlookers' interest.

He trekked onwards.

Passing by the hallways tile by tile, his figure increasingly became more erratic in motion, switching his books randomly between hands, gazing sporadically from both his sides and back, along with an increased perception and analysis of every face and body he'd passed. Nearly everybody appeared like they normally did, paying him no heed, but even in light of that fact, he felt slightly uneasy. When he got to the library entrance, he coolly dropped his unwanted books into the rustic book chute located to the right of the door, went in and hoped that nobody, save Rinoa, currently dwelled inside.

"…Squall?"

He turned around, it wasn't Rinoa, it was Mrs. Pine.

"…_err..-_Yes, Mrs. Pine?"

"Just to let you know, the librarian isn't in today. If you need to borrow or renew any reading materiel, you'll have to wait until tomorrow, as I'm only authorized to document the returns for only a few more minutes."

"I understand the situation, but I… came here to finish an important paper in History." He explained untruthfully, hoping she'd fall for it. "…Would it be acceptable to simply look through some of the books on the subject without taking them out?"

"It is …acceptable I suppose." She denounced, drawing out her pause for effect, or to possibly agitate him as well.

"But… I'll only grant you this request on the terms that you'll be capable of behaving civilly with Ms. Heartilly when I have to leave temporarily for my own lunch. This is a privilege that I'm giving you to do this and you are to not let anyone else in during that interval, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good then. I suppose that I'll take my leave now and lock the doors on the outside." Being as good as her word, the strict language teacher took a short walk towards the glass doors and exited the library. As he heard the distinguishable locking '_Click!'_ of the outer doors, that's when he dared to commence his search for the ever-elusive Rinoa. The task of finding his girlfriend however, would have been as easy as pie, if by chance he would have spotted her on his own preferred seat of choice, gazing intently into a heavy Ancient Estharian History book. Instead, he found the words printed on the cover first, assumed it wasn't her due to the choice of book, circulated around the entire surrounding area, and then realized it was her only when she mouthed a poignant, '_Hey, I'm over here, genius!_', and then waved him over.

He turned on the dime, took three steps forward, then stepped behind her and took a gander at the pages she'd been supposedly reading. Before that point, he'd never saw anything so ridiculous and absurd in his life.

"…I'm predicting that you used the same lie and got stuck with that book." He scoffed smugly without reservation.

She craned her neck upwards, smiled and replied, "Yeah, but you have no idea. I was originally reading another novel under this but then she started hovering around me, so I tucked that one away under my chair. And then she had the _nerve_ to start reading over my shoulder and started asking me questions! On top of that, she kept on chewing me out for the answers I didn't know, and well… I've had enough of that!"

She got up from her chair, slammed the large book onto the return cart beside her and took a breath of well-earned relief.

"Wow… did that** _ever_** feel good!" She exclaimed therapeutically. "Now, what do you want to talk about?"

"…I thought you were the one who wanted to talk about something."

"No, I just thought that today could be for anything in general. Lets' go down to the fiction corner again though, I don't want people to knock at the door, assuming that we're the ones charged with the honour of letting them in.." She clarified. Squall suddenly thought about the morbid side of this revelation.

'_Oh great, I'm going to have to think of something to say now. I'm doomed…_'

After they had taken their time to travel towards the aforementioned section, a silence ensued over top of the original silence as the male adolescent remained unvocal for the first few instants. On instant number 47 however, the stillness was horribly violated. …Horribly, horribly violated.

"Well, seeing as there nothing to talk about, maybe I can try saying odd to spark some topic perhaps? Do you think that'll work?" Rinoa suggested ineptly.

'_Must. Refrain. From. Commenting. Sarcastically. …She's making this too easy. -Was that her intention? Whatever, I might as well bring up what happened this morning… even though I really **don't**_ _want to_… _though my curiosity is irritating me to no end. Hmph… I can't win for losing, can I?_'

"-So… what do think about… _uh _…instant oatmeal?" She stumbled, grasping at straws while having no prior inclination that Squall was already going to say something anyway. But in the sprit of her efforts, he still poked fun at her attempt regardless, like the insatiably sarcastic person that he was.

"…_Oatmeal?" _He taunted. _"_Surely you could have thought of something better."

"Hey, it had to be odd, _remember?_" She countered defensively, putting her hands on her hips.

'_Must refrain from saying something else… she set herself up again.'_

"Okay, could we just stop with the instant oatmeal idea? You're making it too easy for me to make fun of you."

"_Gee, really?_ I had _no_ clue…" She drawled misleadingly. "Squall, you do realize that I did that on purpose so it would stir something up to talk about?"

"_Wha-Nevermind_… Look, about this morning…" He paused and took a big gulp of air. "…_err.. _Thanks for saying something."

"It's no problem." She replied casually, face beaming briefly. "Although… I do apologize for the whole Selphie situation, I know that… a lot of people might now _know_ about us because of her-"

'_-You… told her?_'

"-She's a good-hearted person but, I gather that you must know how she can be…"

"Well… could it had been avoided some how?" Squall hotly counteracted.

"I-"

"-Was it possible to make up some kind of lie, or something for her to think _otherwise?_"

"Squall, stop. I couldn't have." The teenager who stood before her now stared at her intensely, reverting to his old habits.

'_What do you mean **couldn't **have?_ _Didn't you say that you'd_ _have_ _waited until I was ready? What about that?_'

"Okay, don't look at me like that. There were **_no_** excuses I could have used to explain why you where there, even if I had an eternity to think about it and besides… I couldn't find myself to lie directly to her face; she **is** my friend after all."

Squall sighed in defeat. "Okay then… What's the damage?"

"Damage?"

"…I don't think you'd spend seven minutes talking about _nothing._" He denoted.

"Oh that! Well it had nothing to do with you, it was just… _girl stuff_."

'_Yeah, and I'm the SeeD commander of Balamb Garden. Get real Rinoa._'

Then, Rinoa's eyes gave him the most peculiar look. "Mind filling me in on your sarcastic thoughts Squall my dear?"

'_She's getting good at this. -Too good even. I might need to get her a blindfold if she gets any better._'

"Why should I say everything that goes on inside my head if you won't even tell me what you said while I was gone?"

"Because that's the way it works."

"…Very mature Rinoa."

"Well.. how about this then," She stopped to leisurely turn a away from him, her clasped hands swinging behind her back. "Maybe it's because.. I'm trying to help you not to think so much. Remember that day after we'd been bouncing on the trampoline together while we were stuck inside? Well… I'm trying to uphold that promise."

"Things don't change **_that_** quickly…"

She spun around. "Just you wait Squall Leonhart. By the time I'm done with you, you won't be even able to keep a single thought hidden to yourself! Not to mention you'll also be the resident makeout king of Balamb High and that I'll need to fend you off constantly with a stick."

"…So you're forcing me to get a personality transplant?" He quipped bluntly.

"Noo…" Rinoa answered light-heartedly. "…It'll be one-hundred and ten percent you."

"…The closest thing you'll get to that is me actually sticking around the same area in the corridor near you."

"Ouch, that's harsh Squall.." She feigned in mock-hurt.

"…At least I'm being honest."

"Hmm… maybe I will get that transplant for you." Squall recoiled slightly at this comment; meanwhile Rinoa was stunned by his reaction.

"Don't worry Squall, you know I wouldn't change any part of you, you're perfect just the way you are." She reassured sweetly, making candy taste like plain soda crackers in comparison.

_'Okay, maybe I shouldn't have flinched like that; I knew perfectly well that it was a joke… In light of all this, I may not… be able to show it outwardly to the others, but I'll always be there for you Rinoa.'_

"Say it out loud Squall." Rinoa coerced, once more recognising all too well about her boyfriend's mannerisms when he was in a notably deep thought.

'_Damn…_'

Being figuratively cornered by the inquisitive girl in front of him; Squall felt as if he had no choice but to grudgingly give into her request. The fact sickened him that he'd been duped so easily.

The library was desolate; that, he was certain of with the locked doors and strict orders he'd been given. However, subconsciously, he still felt the need to bolster that veritable fact as his cerulean eyes scanned the perimeter. He noted that the shelves and its' books were still graced with a covering of dust, as no fresh fingerprints had marred them, there were no footsteps contradicting his assessment, and generally nothing to lead him to believe that someone else was in here. If he was going to repeat his thoughts, at least he was going to take the measures to make sure that they'd be in private.

Before commencing, he took a slight breath to ready himself.

"..Even though I can't be ...as open with you in public," He paused hesitantly, almost amazing himself that he'd gotten this far, "..I am…_err_..._I_ _will _-_I'll… _always be there for you."

Instead of Rinoa saying anything, Squall noticed the nearby rickety tables shaking, and before he realized it, she came fast and fervently hugged him very tightly, almost choking him.

"Thanks for saying that for me." She whispered appreciatively into his ear.

As soon as the brief hug had ended, Squall uncharacteristically took advantage the opportunity presented in front of him, after he quickly surveyed the surrounding areas once more and seized the chance to lightly kiss her momentarily.

_'Maybe this isn't as difficult as I tend to make myself think... Wait..what am I doing!'_

After the fact, Squall turned around slightly as he broke away, questioning whether he should have done what he'd just done - he had butterflies fluttering in his insides, with an accompanying conflicting twinge of guilty pleasure as well.

_"Wow…If he's this good at kissing, I wonder how good he-"_

'_Clang!_'

Squall's attention shifted towards a loud noise, localized near the return cart near the entrance; the massive book Rinoa had slammed onto the cart earlier had recently clattered onto the solid flooring beneath it. However, the convenient distraction didn't cancel out the end of Rinoa's pseudo-soliloquy and he'd been forced to listen painfully, almost cringing at the fact that he obviously knew that she hadn't realized that she'd been saying it aloud, combined with the fact that it wasn't exactly something one should say aloud either.

"Um..Rinoa?" He shyly said, breaking her out of her daze.

"-_Uh_ ..Yeah?"

"I don't think..." He started explaining albeit his expanding embarrassment of the situation. "..I'll be ready for that sort of thing for a long while..."

"Oh._.Oops.._.This is probably very embarrassing, but you weren't supposed to hear that, I must have been accidentally thinking out loud.."

"...Can we just ...make this easier and say that this moment never happened?" He quickly mouthed, trying to lighten the damage done.

"Yeah..Lets do that." Rinoa stammered rapidly, as her face reddened excessively.

_'Okay, that was very awkward...I thought that only guys thought along those lines, not the other way around. Better do something to get my mind off of this...'_

In an instant, Squall rapidly formulated a small question to remedy what the situation called for.

"So… what do you think we should do next Friday morning?"

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"…At first, no S.D class."

"Oh! Sorry, I _was…_ a little distracted by a noise, I think Ms. Pine's back again. I guess we should start pretending to be doing the history assignment again."

"…No, we'd better not. I don't feel like putting up a charade anymore." Squall responded morosely.

"What's _wrong?_"

"…_Nothing._" He lied, while observing the approaching shadow. "Listen. We'd better go our separate ways now."

"But-" Squall halted her speech by a singular silencing hand motion and with severe glare emanating from his darkened eyes. Rinoa hadn't dared to even say another word to his retreating figure, all she had done was sit down in a nearby chair.

"Maybe, this relationship with him is going to be even more difficult than I had originally thought…" The lone girl secretly mumbled to herself. "With him being so afraid of others' opinions and his conflicting thoughts… I don't know what I'll do.."

Rinoa sat there for a good half a minute, staring at the blank white table in front of her, not saying a thing, staying perfectly motionless. Then, she broke her own silence.

"Well… this leaves me with no other choice. I'm going to feel bad for doing it, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. _Sorry Squall._"

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Sorry if this seems like it's all fluff and no plot at the moment, but like I've said before, things will take some time to develop in this fic, so hang tight for the ride. Regardless, any input is appreciated so… read, write and review with anything you'd like to put out there. Thanks.

Until the next one!

-Emerald Latias


	4. Chapter IV – Mending the Shards

**Author's Notes – **Well, I guess I'm just going to have to try harder to win your approval here, seeing as I've only gotten a single review for the last chapter and quite frankly, I'm a little disappointed. At least if you didn't like what I'm putting out, write a review to tell me just that, I don't mind, it's not like I'm going to bite your head off. Or even if you do happen to like what I'm doing here, write a comment or two, because if I don't get some decent feedback, I'll never know what I'm doing right or wrong, and I'll never learn or change.

Anyways, here's chapter four.

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**Chapter IV – Mending the Shards**

Late Tuesday afternoon, a single girl stepped out from a bus's transparent doors, and escaped the silent interior and all of its' equally silent occupants demurely seated inside. Then, that dark-haired young lady walked on the cement sidewalk in a haphazard manner, occasionally skipping, prancing and even dancing in the mix. Tonight was going to be a good one; she thought, and just as Rinoa Heartilly was her name, she could feel the luck flowing through her veins, maybe in her arteries even.

She closed her eyes in reflection and nattered on to herself, "I'm going to fix my locket, visit Selphie, and maybe even go for some ice cream at that place near the harbour. Ah…I just can taste it now; it's going to be great!"

As Rinoa opened her brown eyes, the sun shone vividly into them, giving off an incredible heightened dazzle in midst of their depths and a gorgeous shimmer in her hair, portraying the very image of the beautiful optimism that her heart also housed. Right after, that very model of cheerfulness went inside her house, as the sun made it too hard to see.

Once inside, Rinoa tossed her knapsack aside to her right, and then she began to hop madly up the stairs to her room. She climbed each step so fast, that before she knew it, she had already opened up the jewellery box, right after stumbling over a wayward notebook.

"_Ooof_…Okay, where did I put that locket… " She chanted while sifting through the contents. "Not. …_Here…_ Wait, I remember, I put it in that little white necklace box on my deck. I've really got to tidy up my floor though…"

Putting a foot forward, Rinoa's toes immediately hooked onto a discarded pyjama top. Then, after she shook it off and took another step frontward, her other foot caught the matching bottom. Disgruntled with continuously latching on to the various articles of pale blue sleepwear, Rinoa decided to do a mini-clean up and pick up all of the clothes, notebooks, pens and papers on floor.

Bending over to pick the PJ set, the room's owner suddenly felt a small jolt of pain escalate from her lower back to the muscles underneath her shoulder blades and upper back.

'_Ouch… Must have done something to my back in S.D class, I'd better do this on all fours so it won't hurt as much._'

Crawling around floor, Rinoa searched for the things that should not have been lying there, and every time she found something, she stood up on her knees then shuffled on them to put it back to its' appropriate place. However, the 'appropriate' place was inappropriately the surface of her bed, reason being that she had too much going on right now and too much stuff to put it all away properly. After she filtered through the carpet flooring, and tossed stuff up and away in addition to the several pieces of clothing earlier, the joy of throwing things onto her bed waned slightly as the displaced items on the floor significantly decreased in number. Then, after she scanned her eyes around the area and looked under her bed once more, she found one other thing, and that thing happened to be a small black notebook with two sparkly red ladybugs on the front. Needless to say, Rinoa hunted that down avidly, once she saw that initial ebony corner peeking out from under her bed.

"Gotcha! Hyne, this carpet burns after a while.." She exclaimed childishly upon her capture. "Hold on… this is my old doodling book from grade ten. Hmm… maybe I have some time for a look…"

And thus, the cleaning frenzy majestically ended by means of distraction. Maybe not.

Slumped down onto the carpet, head leaned against the mattress of her bed, she flitted through the miniscule works of boredom in reverse order; as her logic dictated that the good stuff was always last.

"_Heh…_ That Tonberry's not half bad. Wow… I love the shading on that Moogle, _okay_… why did I draw a blonde spiky-haired guy with a huge sword, dressed in purple… -_I mean…_ blue? I really must have been super-bored that day. -**_Hey.._**"

On a page where it should have been another random drawing, Rinoa's eyes darted towards the sole break in tradition from the other things she'd seen so far. It was words, not pictures, which were neatly printed on the next chain of three double-sided colourless pages, stained with only solid brisk lines and curvatures of jet-black ink, no other colours, hues or shades to decorate it, only words to colour it, adjectives to give it flavour and an application of unreserved truth to bring out the beauty in the detailing. That beauty was not in a form of a poem however, but rather dosed in a one-shot entry written by her sixteen year-old self.

----

_-March 3rd, Grade ten._

_I don't usually write entries like this, as I've never liked the idea of a diary in the first place… so it'll be my only one. I just don't want to ever forget what happened today. –If I can help it._ _As of today, this.. has been my best birthday ever since, well, ever since mom died. Now, how do I write the next thing.. Maybe I could write down exactly what happened. Yeah, that sounds good! Wait.. aren't diary entries about **feelings?** Naah, forget about the rules, I'll write what I want to, it's not like it's going to be rated on its' diary-ness. Is that even a word? Nevermind… Well, here it goes!_

_- I went to the school dance at seven-fourteen. _

_- Met up with Quistis, Zell---_

_-Wait, that doesn't look right, I'm making a chronological list there and it's supposed to be an entry for Hyne's sake! Argh, I never imagined that writing this would be this hard… I think I'm making myself bored from re-reading it so many times._

_But in all seriousness, right now I wish I would have used a pencil, and then I could have restarted this awkward mess but noo… I had to use the beckoning sophisticated black gel pen! Forget about it, I'll write it like a story…no, more like Cliff's notes, no like… whatever, I'll write it how ever I feel like it. I want to make it such a good forget-me-not entry that it'll be stuck in my brain forever and ever. _

_-Now, lets' see if I get it right this time. _

_Okay… so I went to this dance at around seven and I had the greatest time ever. -Hmm, that sounded good… The music was really good (nobody played that stupid popular song I hate called 'Somebody's secret', it's so whiny that I wish the lead singer would eat a smelly sock), and the dress I got was the best looking one out of everybody's, finally… I'm not the laughingstock for once. Phew. Anyways.. I had a blast dancing with my new friends -oh before I forget- I danced with some guys too, can't forget them, can I? _

_Then… after that…I think I –no, that was later- oh now I know- Later on, I even learned how to waltz! I think that song that played then was 'Waltz for the Moon' or something, it was pretty, even though it was a classical piece. Maybe I'm developing a new musical taste! -Err.. maybe not, I'll stick with old faithful here. _

_On a different note, even though the General **spaced** out on the fact that it was my birthday (I think the military messed up his brain cells some more), I think that it actually worked to my advantage, the formal dinners he takes me to are sooo… BORING! I'd pick a school dance over that any day. -Even on my birthday. :) _

_But out of **all** this, the best part has definitely got to be seeing this one guy standing against the wall, he's so.. so.. mysterious you might say. I've only seen him in the hallways on the rare occasion - because we've never had any classes together. Well, there's nothing I could have done about that, since my schedule is different because the classes I had in Deling Prep last semester were the ones the grade tens here get now, so I've got a whole bunch of optional grade eleven courses stuffed in there. Joy. Aah…there's always next year, or the year after that …if the schedule maker at the school really hates me. _

_Regardless of any schedule they throw at me, I don't know.. it's just so… weird with him; it's not like a simple physical attraction, crush or anything typical (although he's still pretty good-looking), it's like I want to solve a cube puzzle, except he's the puzzle. I think it has something to do with the way he seems whenever I see him- err…with his expressions and stuff, and I know that he's not some typical anti-social teenager; it looks much deeper than that._

_-I mean, you can't quite call him anti-social because I… I just know- it's a gut feeling I suppose, or maybe it's just the vibe I'm getting from him. I guess it's like a crush mixed with** a lot** of fascination… but the weird thing is that I've never **felt **like this before and I'm all confused! All of the other crushes I've had in the past either went away after a while, or the ones I actually got to go out with, I either got bored with the victory or we'd split up after a month or two. _

_God… my teenage life sure did get complicated fast, now it's even starting to look like those teen stories that I've read before. Well, now I can't call it ridiculous anymore I guess… Damn. …and I thought I was going to turn out normal._

_-There goes **that** hope. Ha.. _

_Well, wrapping this all up, even though I didn't have the nerve to ask him to dance (he looked like he'd been forced to come, so dancing with him didn't look like an option), it was still nice to see him, and Selphie (one of my new friends) informed me about the main details about him (she fell for the lie I said about me never seeing him at school before), but unfortunately, it wasn't anything different than what I'd half-expected already anyway – he's more or less of a loner, very intelligent and straight-laced (meaning that I'll never see him in detention or skipping class.. darn)._

_Wait… why am I still calling him 'him'? Quistis told me his name was Squall right after I asked Selphie about him. _

_Hyne, I really have to start remembering things sooner, **now** I know why I got the idea for this in the first place. _

_Squall… Squall… -Hey, doesn't that also define the sudden violent winds during a storm? Hmm… it seems oddly fitting for him if that's the case, but talk about a huge coincidence though. _

_Either way; let the rainstorm begin- I'm going to try to get to know him somehow… or someday. _

_-I'll even make it my birthday wish._

_----_

Rinoa smiled. "Memories really do warp over time… I never remembered it being that way… Nevermind about thinking it was a profound interest; it sounded more like a mission! Maybe I exaggerated my words because I was so excited. Ah… young love. It's so invigorating. Better get going, the store won't stay open for ever."

And with that, she jumped hastily over her bed, knocked over all the progress she made cleaning up and headed straight for the door… _and _out of the house, as the resonance of the entrance door being shut loudly permeated throughout the entire street's residential space.

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'_Ding-na-ding-na-Ding._'

Once inside the charming store which she knew to be Mr. Bijou's Repair Shop, roughly 45 minutes later, Rinoa took the moment to survey her immediate unshared surroundings as if she was reacquainting herself anew. Although she'd been here many a time before, something wasn't registering as it should have been.

Cautiously taking miniscule steps forwards, she looked around. The hunter green walls and gold trim were obviously the same, no doubt, the usual shock delivered to her hands from the frigid brass countertop also remained unchanged as well when she leaned on it momentarily, but where did this apprehension come from_ exactly?_ A second later when she pulled herself off of the counter and inched closer to her right, a shrill noise pierced the silence, and she held in her breath and jumped a little. She then expelled the breath, when she realized it was simply a display of fixed tin chimes panging behind her, moving from an artificial wind, so then, her examination continued.

As she searched some more, she found no answer to her qualms; maybe it was the silence fueling the sensation of alienation from the place she'd always loved before, but alas the mystery was still unresolved…still unfulfilled somehow. Her eyes darted sideways, as a gleam of light reflecting off of another display of gold rings caught her sights on the left.

A surge volume piped up. Rinoa spun in confusion or possibly panic. The line which divided the two sentiments was too thin to notice the difference now, so she conceded the decision and blindly assumed it was both. Another burst of sound reverberated. Rinoa became jittery; her walk jerked and became sluggish in a mental paralysis, she tried to leave, and yet her legs prevented her from doing so- they were now as consistent as wobbly jelly. The origin of the noise, the backroom, intensified as the would-be stranger came closer and closer to the backroom door.

"_Urm…_Hello, is anyone here?" She called out uncertainly, still echoing eerily throughout the foreboding void, still unable to move under her own free will.

"Yes…Yes..I'm coming." An old man responded irritably, but when he came out through the back door, his tone changed.

"Oh, it's you Miss Heartilly, long time no see. Are you getting more careful with your jewelry now-a-days? I'm not seeing you as much as I used to, and it's bad for business you see, because I need customers to keep this old place afloat."

Rinoa's fears were calmed at that moment. "_Oh_ _Mr. Bijou…_ you're just as bad with the jokes as you were the last time I came here. Maybe I should start breaking my stuff on purpose; Hyne knows I need some more laughter in my life right now."

The bespectacled gray-haired man laughed. "Nevermind about me being the humorous one, you're the one with all the funny anecdotes that make me chuckle… So, what brings you here my dear? Is that one silver chain giving you trouble again?"

"No… It's something else." Rinoa said neutrally, while she strained her tone. "It's my pendant. I…accidentally_-err… _dropped it onto…_well_ it actually.. sorta_…sorta-umm.. _fell and landed onto a hard…surface –_no, floor!_ And it cracked- _both _the outside _and inside._"

"Okay, so that's the problem you came for? Well… may I see it?"

"-Oh…_yeah!_ _Oops… …_So do you think you can fix it?" The travel-worn Heartilly asked wearily, and then brandished the locket between her thumb and forefinger lightly. Mr. Bijou took the piece and held it closer to his sights, analysing it from every angle.

"_Hmm… hm. Hmmmm._"

"Is… it _fixable?_"

"Oh, why yes, most definitely, however…"

"_-How_ever_ what…?_" Rinoa repeated nervously.

"Well, looking it over, the loophole for the chain is undamaged, and the cracks on the exterior are possible to mend without any visible fusion marks that I'll have to do. But… as for the inside…"

The gleam present in her eyes shifted into a reserve. "Could you please find a way to fix it …I'll pay any amount to have it repaired. _Please._"

"_No, no, no, _it's not like that. It's fully repairable Miss Heartilly; it's just that I'll have trouble removing the glass without damaging the photo. I can still do it, but there's a risk that the photo might get torn by my instruments and regardless, I'll need to take it out before I do any work on the locket, as the heat would surely harm it if I were to leave it in."

"Oh. I see. _Umm…_what are my odds?"

"-_Odds?_"

"Oops." She mumbled embarrassedly. "I mean… the chances of the photo getting damaged."

"Without removing it and doing the repairs, 100 percent. Extracting it from the frame with my tools, about… 60 percent."

"…What kind of damages are we talking about then?"

"_Hmm,_ even with the tears it already has on the edges, well there's the chance that it'll sustain a cut in the middle because I'll need to fully crack the glass to get the shards out… the partial crack had fixed it in rather acutely I'm afraid."

"Okay…"

'_It's this or nothing, should I do it?_'

'_Well… Mr. Bijou is a skilled repairs man; he's done impossible stuff I've brought to him in the past…_'

'-_But he's never given anything with such a high damage rate before._'

"Miss Heartilly, are you_ alright_?" Rinoa blinked fervently after that concerned remark, and zoned back into reality.

"Sorry about that…Just thinking."

"Well, have you come to a decision?"

"I…"

'_I'll take this chance; I have to right the wrong I've done to my family._'

"…I'd like it repaired Mr. Bijou."

"Excellent, now it'll be roughly an hour until I'll be finished with the repairs, and the payment will be taken afterward."

"Sure, that sounds fine, I'll be back in the hour. I know you'll do wonders for that locket Mr. Bijou." Rinoa affirmed confidently as she started to leave the store.

The old repairman chuckled again. "I always do Rinoa. Now be good while you're gone, I can't have you causing trouble everywhere in Balamb."

She turned around and shared a laugh as well. "Hee, I could say the same for you. Well… I'll be back soon. _Bye!_"

After Rinoa had left the shop, she took a few steps to her left and quickly mounted onto her emerald-green bicycle, and leisurely sped off riding, splashing through the melted snow puddles in the process.

Mr. Bijou's jewellery repair shop had been located in the center of Balamb, yet ironically was also one of the more desolate places in the entire district. Very little people knew about the skilled repairman's shop, but everyone who did were very loyal customers, Rinoa included. The reason why it was so remote to most of the populace was directly linked to the fact that it was behind the contrarily well-known weapons shop, down a somewhat hidden brick alleyway.

After cycling in the narrow pathway for awhile, in between smothering brick buildings from the left and right sides, Rinoa took the usual safety measures to slow her speed and exited the alley slowly, and carefully rounded the left-hand corner. A few minutes later, she had passed through the entire central Balamb commercial strip, zooming past the aforementioned weapons shop, the imposing and stately hotel at the opposing corner, the quaint local item store, and even Zell's house while she was at it too. Gaining speed, she soon bypassed the inner city limit's garage station and started to cycle into the countryside meadows.

Rinoa also noticed during her frozen dirt trail ride was that the view was getting increasingly much more naturalized and beautiful, as the shiny green coat of the poking-out patches of grass gently zipped underneath in midst of the lingering snow, instead of the paved cobblestone streets, and the random early-spring breezes now caressed her every move, push and peddle in the place of the serene in-town zephyrs. A few more moments later as she traveled down the path towards a neighbourhood of immense seaside homes, that beauty turned into something slightly more tainted as the snow turned into mud, and then to asphalt as Rinoa turned into a specific deep-red brick house's driveway from a side road which branched off from the main rural road, that specific scarlet house being Selphie's house to be exact.

After she squeezed the hand brakes and came to a complete stop, Rinoa disembarked the bike right near the doorway. She then kicked the rustic kickstand into the it's proper bicycle withstanding position, cheerily hopped onto the granite stoop, and knocked the ebony door five times to the tune of an unidentifiable piano song, that she'd known since she was a little girl. Selphie surely didn't know the song, but it didn't stop her from abducting Rinoa into her house.

"Hey Rin! What brings you here?" She exclaimed effervescently.

"Nothing much, just came to visit while I have some repairs getting done at the shop, you know, the usual." Rinoa stated casually, being close- but not quite from sounding a little monotone.

"Oh, I get it. What did you break this time? Was it the silver chain again?"

"_Err…no-_" The other girl mumbled out meagerly while she took off her boots. "_It was…_the..-_the gold, urm,_ ring. Yeah! _The…_ gold ring."

"_Er-_Okay. So…what you do want to do? Play a board game, talk, raid the fridge for chocolate milk…"

Rinoa giggled. "_Heh…_You're funny Selphie. I think I'll need the talk the most, although I wouldn't mind a glass of chocolate milk too."

"Sure thing, I'll get the glasses." Selphie offered as she walked up the stairs and turned right towards the kitchen, past a small coat closet. "Do you want a straw for that?" She yelled.

"C'mon Selph, you already know the answer to that." She jokingly chided, following her up the stairs.

"Okay then, a straw it is!"

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"So…What's on your mind Rin?" Selphie asked while carrying the topped off glasses towards her room, which happened to be past the kitchen, down a small hallway, and was first door to the left. Rinoa had been behind her the whole time.

"I'll tell you when we get in your_-_ _Are_ you **_sure_** you can carry both glasses?"

She stopped. "No, I'm fine." Then, she continued.

'_Splish._'

"Maybe not… Here, take yours, I'll need to go clean that up for a sec."

Selphie handed Rinoa her cup to her hand, straw and all. "Okay, I'll be in your room."

"No prob, this won't take me long."

"'Kay."

Rinoa carefully walked down, cup in hand, to Selphie's door and opened it indifferently. Inside, it seemed like Selphie was in a middle of a clean-up, since her bed in the far left hand corner had been half made, leaf-green covers askew, her one big orange dresser to the far right corner had several opened drawers, her bright clothes peeked through and looked like they were haphazardly stuffed in there, with obviously no order what so ever. Not to mention the desk by the right wall had numerous papers and things piled up on to it, much akin to Rinoa's desk in her own room.

Moving forward to place her chocolate milk on the equally-orange nightstand near Selphie's bed, Rinoa felt some random rough spots underneath her socks on the carpet flooring, and almost felt like she'd been walking through patches of loose pebbles in places yet also felt perfectly unaffected in others. When Rinoa had actually put down the glass, she changed her mind abruptly for no apparent reason, and quickly shifted her position to sit down on the soft mattress of the adjacent bed, and quietly sipped her drink. After Rinoa removed her lips from the straw, she just stared blankly at nothing in particular.

'_Should I tell her about the troubles Squall's been having, or should I think of something else to say?_'

'_If I told her, wouldn't I be compromising his privacy? Maybe I should just tell her about my plan for him._'

'-_Only if she brings it up though._'

'-_But she already knows about us. Then again, I didn't go into detail on the subject, just about my excitement about the whole thing really…_'

'_I'll just take it as the conversation goes. Yeah, that's a good plan._'

"I'm back! So…what's the scoop?" Selphie shouted cheerfully upon entering the room, Rinoa was startled by this swift action, nearly poking her right eye out with her own drinking straw.

She turned slightly red-faced towards her now-sitting friend. "So, _uh… _How's it with …you and Irvine? …Manage to go on a date yet?"

"Not yet, but I can sense a date coming soon, the March dance is coming up on this Friday. I think he'll ask me to go to that. They're still selling tickets, right?"

"Yeah…_at least_ _I think so_. Usually, they stop selling them until the day before, so you'll have tomorrow and Thursday if I'm right."

"Okay, that's good. So, what about you, are you going?"

Rinoa looked down at the bottom of the glass in between her hands. "No, probably not. I'm a little broke at the moment."

"I could pay for you if you want. It'll be fun, what do you say?" Rinoa looked up again.

"No, it's okay." She declined. "And besides… I can't go to _every_ one of the dances the school puts on, because it'll get boring then."

"That's pure nonsense Rin!" Selphie replied in her best evangelistic voice. "Think of it as an early birthday present. Your birthday's on Sunday, right?"

'_Wow. How did I forget about that one? Yikes, I'm going to turn eighteen. Scary…_'

"Well, if you put it that way… I.. think I'll go. Thanks Selph."

"No sweat, it's nothing. _Hey,_ I just thought of something else…" Rinoa gave her a slightly perplexed yet scared look.

"_What_ _are you thinking of_…" She inquired with great trepidation.

"You…"

"_You …_what?"

"_You…_ have to make Squall come! Couples always come to dance together!"

Rinoa burst out laughing so hard at this answer that she inadvertently choked out the contents in her mouth **and** had to set aside that same cup onto the night table rapidly before she could possibly fall onto the floor giggling. Although she didn't fall, it was so bad for a while that she also held her sides intently from some laughing pains. A few moments later, she regained enough composure to sit up properly and reply to her idea.

"Look…_hee_… I don't –_pfft- _think that'll be possible Selphie."

"Why not?" The brunette whined immaturely, and gave her a confused look.

Rinoa sighed, and then began to list off her reasons. "Well… number one, we've only been going out since last Friday…_and-_"

"Well, that's not a reason. A couple is still a couple no matter how new the relationship _is._" She countered bluntly. "Actually, that reason adds to my point of why you two should go, it can be your first date together!"

"…_as_ I _was_ saying, reason number two- he doesn't like dancing. Remember that dance in grade 10 when I first came to the school? He was always against the wall."

"You don't know that for sure, maybe he just didn't get up the courage to ask someone at the time." She guessed naively.

"Uh Selphie, I **_really_** don't think that was it. He was glaring at everything."

"Whoa, take it easy there Rin! I never realized you had it _that_ bad for him for _that_ long, or else you wouldn't have been paying so much attention to what he was doing at the time. Tee hee… you really must be trying hard to make this work-"

'_You have no idea…_' Rinoa mentally cut in.

"- But still, asking him to go won't hurt you, maybe he'll go because it's your birthday soon, as a favour maybe."

"Selph, I don't think he even knows when my birthday **_is_**." She interjected realistically.

"Well if he's into you, he'll find out quick or possibly secretly knows already."

"_Uh-_"

"Okay then, do you even know when _his_ birthday is?" Selphie added inquisitively.

"Lemme think…" Rinoa stalled her answer even though she was pretty sure she knew it anyway. "-August 23rd? Am I right?"

"How would I know? It sounds right though. See what I meant by earlier?" Rinoa blushed furiously at the remark, since she had indeed, proved point-blank that Selphie's logic was correct so… easily.

"Okay, okay, I'll ask him. Now will you stop the interrogation _please?_" The dark-haired girl jokingly said in defeat.

'_Hmm, maybe this could kill two chocobos with one stone; I could get Selphie off my back and initiate my plan a little less drastically to get Squall more comfortable with me in public. Why didn't I think of this sooner?_'

"Good to see you're doing things my way. Hee." The shorter female humorously added. "So, what did you _really_ want to talk about? I'm predicting that it has something to do with Squall? _Am I right?_"

Rinoa looked at her, jaw agape. "How did you-"

"-_Know? _Well when someone says that they need to talk, they usually talk about something that's been bugging them, not something about the other person. I'm not dumb you know, Rin, I can see when you're nervous too."

"Wow, I didn't know…you were so perceptive."

"It comes from dealing with committee members I suppose. So, what do you really need to talk about?"

"Well…I'd better not; it's not really my business to say it. I was going to tell you..but at the last minute, when I was here alone, I changed my mind. It's kinda personal and I want to respect the person's privacy."

"I promise not to tell. You can trust me to keep a secret, right?" Selphie pledged, hands now folded together.

"Weell… What about Monday? You didn't keep a secret then about Squall being my boyfriend when I specifically told you to **not** say anything." Rinoa asserted vindictively, as she dug up the recent incident, nullifying her pledge's truthfulness.

"That's different."

"…How so?"

"Well… everybody was going to see you acting like boyfriend and girlfriend together anyway, and it was exciting news! You can't blame me for wanting to spread the word now can you?"

"Yeah… but that's _just_ the problem about all of this!" Rinoa blurted out loudly.

"…_Come _again?"

"The problem I've been having with him is that he can't seem to be public about it, almost like he needs the cold front or else _he's_ the one who falls apart. He seems to be afraid of…of…"

"…Of_ what_ Rin?"

She rose up from the bed and started to walk towards her bedroom door."…Nevermind, I've said too much already. Well I've got to be going back to the store; it's been fun talking with you, thanks for the company. See you _later?_"

While Rinoa had gone back through the house and eventually reached the front door, Selphie followed her with one last reply to tell her. "Yeah, definitely. Have a nice trip back."

She turned around and nodded as she opened the door. "Yeah I will. Thanks again for everything."

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'_Ding-na-ding-na-Ding._'

"Back so soon Miss Heartilly?" Mr. Bijou teased upon her re-retry into his store.

"Hee, you couldn't peel me away from this store, I'm too accident-prone for my own good." Rinoa quipped lightheartedly, as she contrarily approached the front counter full of the grace which she previously mentioned that she had none of.

"Well, either way, I've finished the work on your locket. Here." The repairs man calmly slid the golden trinket forward onto her side of the counter and Rinoa apprehensively collected it, and put it into her left palm.

Upon the initial analysis, all looked well to the standing girl, as the golden surface seemed almost angelic as she traced the contours with her index finger, being smooth to the touch once more. On a visual note, the metal shone brightly without any sign of tainted weld marks. The result was indeed the same for the other side, but that didn't worry her the slightest, as it was the inside she'd been most preoccupied about. The moment of truth soon arrived and Rinoa was extremely hesitant, and then… she quickly put the locket in her pocket and turned towards the old jeweler.

"So how much do I owe you?" She asked rapidly, meanwhile she looked at his apron instead of his eyes.

"Nothing if you don't open that locket. I need you to look at it first to know if I did a good job, only your opinion alone will suffice to determine if I even think of charging you. I can tell that the locket meant a lot to you, just by your expression when you came in. So please look at it first." The man replied sternly, meanwhile, Rinoa's expression visibly soured.

"But I'm afraid…of what I may see in there." She admitted truthfully, yet shyly.

"Look, I've had a lot of things happen to me throughout the course of my own life, but knowing what I know now, I can tell you that the best route is to confront your fears whenever you are able to, because if you don't, it's the _what if's _that'll eat you alive later on. Trust me on this; you'll be better off confronting this fear now."

"Okay…I'll do it." Rinoa answered demurely, and then she opened it and gasped.

The insides had a brand new glass frame, and after analyzing the picture, starting off from the previously-damaged edges to the center where both Rinoa's parents smiled happily along with an equally smiling young Rinoa, clad in a pale pink dress in between the two, the evidence was clear; there were no new tears to report, outside of one far above her father's head.

Rinoa couldn't help but break out with her most radiant and beautiful smile to date.

"So I take it you're pleased with the work?" Mr. Bijou inquired in a happy tone.

Rinoa immediately stretched to hug him over the counter. "Thank you, thank you, thank you… so very_ much!_ I'm so glad that it was restored so nicely! You have no idea how much this meant to me!"

"Good, it'll be free of charge then." Rinoa released the hug at that moment.

"What, you've got to be kidding; you deserve twice the money for the repairs!"

"Look, I've been in the business for about forty years, and I know when not to charge people. It would be wrong to tax a sentimental piece such as your locket, since you took a great personal risk to have me repair it, so in a way, I caused you grief with the worry that I might have ruined the photograph while trying to fix it. So we're even."

"You're too nice for words Mr. Bijou; I think I'll break my silver chain just so I can pay you for something."

He laughed. "Do that, and I won't charge you for that one neither."

"How does a big neopolitan ice cream cone sound to you then?" Rinoa offered.

"I think… that'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll be back in ten minutes. Bye!" And with that, Rinoa jauntily skid out towards the store's front door without so much as a huff.

Mr. Bijou smiled. "Rinoa… You've truly got a heart of gold. That is for certain."

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**End of Chapter Notes** – Sorry if this chapter seemed like a filler chapter, but the things covered in there had to be done, because as you can see now; this story isn't fully Squall-centric like Locked Inside. As a forewarning, I might have some more Rinoa chapters in the future to deepen the plot, but it won't be for a while. Anyways, if you guys can review this chapter or any other chapters that you've got something to comment on, that'd be great.

_Emerald-Latias_


	5. Chapter V – Misfortune’s Prelude

**Author's Notes - **Aah, that's **much** better. Thanks for the input you guys, it's really appreciated. Anyways, I'm glad that you guys liked the Rinoa-centric chapter, and the things said in the reviews are true; I had switched the POV to add depth and to show you guys that Squall isn't the only one who has troubles in this story. Also, I hope that you'll also be glad to hear that I'm intending to have a 3 to 1 ratio with the Rinoa chapters to even it out (This story will probably last much longer than LI). The reason I don't want to either have alternating chapters is solely because I don't want to overload you guys with a constantly different POV and because it won't be a treat anymore.

Anywho, here's chapter five, and is it ever going start to get rough for Squall. _Oh boy…_ Ahem…

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**Chapter V – Misfortune's Prelude**

Very late Tuesday, technically early Wednesday, a very tired, yet insomniac male teenager sat on the basement floor's computer chair, idly clicking onto random things. He stared at the luminous screen, yet still managed to look at nothing in particular. He was doing whatever, meanwhile, at the same time; he barely took in the colours, shapes and words displayed in front of him. He sighed. Sure, his eyelids started to droop, but something always got in his way from _actually_ following through and _actually_ falling asleep. It was already 2:58 at night and he was thoroughly annoyed; he should have fallen asleep over four hours ago.

Finally deciding to turn the damn thing off, seeing as it hadn't cured his current spell of insomnia, Squall dragged his feet up the basement stairs and once he reached the ground level's wooden flooring, he made a quick left turn and went into the living room, dropped himself onto the nearby teal sofa, flicked on the closest lamp for a moment to get himself into a somewhat comfortable position. Then, the lamp's warm glow went off and the darkness prevailed once more.

'_Well this is **sure** fun, not being able to sleep. I haven't had a three-night string of this in a long time, what gives? I thought I got over my insomnia last year. Wonderful, don't tell me I'm getting it all over again._'

The chilly climate in the room did not help matters for Squall in regards to his attempts to sleep. He'd tried huddling himself in the faded yellow fleece blanket he found on the right arm of the couch when he'd gotten there, but to no avail, the extra warmth did not compensate enough. Then, in desperation, he tried to take out the couch's cushions and pile them overtop of him along with the blanket, while lying on the sofa's frame, but an errant spring foiled that plan as it instantly pierced through the back of his plain white undershirt and dug into his right shoulder blade. Needless to say, he cursed at that and got up angrily, and then marched out of the darkened room, turned left and went all the way down the corridor, past his father's office and the small alcove reserved for the washer and dryer and into the ground-floor bathroom.

As he turned on the switch haphazardly with his hand, Squall recoiled in horror; the room was insanely bright to the point where his eyes burned horribly. Immediately, he flicked it back off and then bent his knees and crouched towards where he knew to be the right-hand miniature cabinet underneath the sink. Opening the door and flailing his hand blindly throughout the insides, Squall eventually fished out the small keychain flashlight he kept in there for such emergencies. Although a strong 100 watt bulb bathroom light wasn't what he'd normally considered to be the type of emergency he kept the flashlight for, he was glad to make an exception to save his retinas from some massive torment. Afterwards, he got up to his feet again.

Pushing the flashlight's switch to the on position, Squall twisted a bit to seize the damaged section on the lower back of his shirt and examined the rip intently. Nothing much, just a pencil tip sized entry tear. As for the skin underneath, after lifting the undershirt partially, he still found nothing much, just a tiny scrape, no blood. He smirked lightly in prospect of this.

'_I really must be getting paranoid as of late; I seem to think that I've become a hemophiliac or at least very prone to bleeding. Whatever. God, I wish he wouldn't have put in that 100 watt bulb in here, what was he thinking? Nevermind, the words 'Laguna' and 'thinking' don't exactly mix anyway. Better disinfect that scrape for good measure._'

He crouched downwards once more, opened the door, and looked for the anti-septic solution with the aid of the lighting provided by the pocket flashlight. Squall found it slightly tedious to find the anti-bacterial solution though, seeing as he - yet again- kept on finding everything he wasn't looking for. Shifting around the various bottles and boxes with his left hand, while the right one continuously held the enlightening gadget, he became very irritable very fast as he always was when he couldn't find what he was looking for, or, when he was deprived of sleep. Combining the two sources of irritability would prove lethal if, by chance, another catalyst were to arise and join his personal cocktail of foul disposition.

A painfully bright light was turned on at that point; it was Laguna who entered that time, still clad in a loose sea green short-sleeved shirt and khaki-coloured pants. He looked as if he accidentally slept in his clothes by amount of wrinkles present on them, along with the genuine sleepy look on his features.

"…_Turn that off **now**._" Squall bellowed, now clattered onto the white floor tiles in ocular anguish and sheer surprise. The light came off instantly. In its' wake, a voice currently permeated the room, amid the now singular ray of light.

"…_Squall?_" Laguna said in deep confusion, after he yawned. "What are you doing on the floor? _And…-yawwwn- _what are you still doing up at this ungodly hour, don't you have school tom…_-yawn- …orrow?_"

"Can't sleep." He replied bluntly. Laguna gave him a perplexed look, or would have, if Squall would have pointed the flashlight's beam towards his face.

"So _you're_…on the floor because you can't_ sleep?_" Squall smacked his forehead for his father's absurd comment, and mentally practiced how to keep a civil tone for what he was going to say next, after he got up.

"_No._ I'm here because I tried sleeping on the couch and… a random spring made a tear through my shirt and dug into my back. I came in here to simply check if it needed to be disinfected and it does. _Does that answer your question?_"

"Yeah, it does. I saw the mess you left on the _-yawn-_ couch, were you trying to pile the cushions on top of yourself?"

Squall shifted uncomfortably. "_Err…yes, I was- _But, I only did it because I couldn't sleep."

Laguna chuckled fondly. "_Ha, ha, haa_… I remember when you were… maybe 6 or 7 and did that. Man, I had the hardest time finding you so that I could get you ready for school; I think I nearly sat on you the first time because you were so small then. Thank Hyne you decided to stick out an arm right then or else you would had been a Squall sandwich. _Ha… _I had no idea that you still did it now."

Squall narrowed his eyes at him, and this time, the beam of light reflected off the sink's mirror showed that. "Listen, it's not that simple…I think my insomnia might be coming back. …It's been the third night in a row."

"Oh." His smile dissipated at those words. "That's not good. Well, if you're not getting any sleep by the end of this week, I'll call the doctor and make an appointment."

After Squall nodded, he continued. "Now, can you promise to try to sleep in your room once you've cleaned up? The noise startled me; with the loud racket going on I thought we were getting robbed." Squall nodded again.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. I uh… accidentally fell asleep at my desk in my office and now my neck's got a killer kink in it. Good night then." Laguna articulated awkwardly as he left the bathroom, while rubbing his aforementioned sore neck. At that moment, Squall had already started to search in the cabinet again for the bottle of anti-septic and found it two seconds later in the corner, closest to the right-hand door. He sighed again.

'…_Everything I look for_ _always ends up being in the last place I look. The sad part is that it's always the easiest place too._'

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The next morning, Squall woke up in a zombie-like state, as he only had roughly three hours' worth of sleep; he had stopped glancing at the clock after four-ten that night. He forcibly got himself out of bed and shifted his position to hit the alarm to halt its' infernal beeping. He missed twice and both times he increased the pitch of the buzzing; the button he always seemed to hit happened to be the one responsible for raising the volume. After that mishap, Squall crudely managed to cover his ears with a hand and shoulder while positioning the other hand correctly to ensure that he'd push the correct button this time. He wasn't exactly in the right mood to want to go deaf first thing in the morning today.

'-_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_'

'_**Slam!**'_

'-_Be…_'

With an exhausted, yet satisfied smirk, Squall left his room to commence his usual ritual in the adjacent bathroom. After he took three steps out of the doorway of his room, he was already half a step into the bathroom itself, once he opened the door of course. Everything was automatic from then on in.

Take toothbrush out. Put toothpaste on toothbrush. Brush teeth with toothbrush. Spit. Rinse with water. Dry mouth with face cloth on right-hand side. Look up at mirror. Notice cloudy, sleep-deprived eyes. Notice why noticing this. Walk away.

After he left the bathroom and re-entered his room again, the ritual furthered as he approached the dark grey dresser which was past his equally-sombre bed and randomly picked out whatever was most easily available to him. Without much deftness in his hand movements, he pulled out a plain steel blue long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark blue denim jeans. Fifteen seconds later, he put them on and lastly, grabbed his Griever necklace and furthermore, the accompanying ring as well. The cold metal ring provided a much-needed jolt to his right hand and raced up his entire arm; Squall had forgotten altogether about the shock the ring always gave him in the morning and flinched slightly because of it.

While shuffling around the room to gather his things into his knapsack, Squall's pace was still clearly hampered by the last nearly-sleepless night he experienced in a row- even though he had put an effort into hurrying his speed. As he went on and collected another scattered textbook, the increasing fatigue rendered him incredibly frustrated; he couldn't handle himself anymore in this state, he couldn't fight it in this state - he needed to crash right now.

Without reflecting upon the consequences of his actions, he dropped the last book into his schoolbag securely, dragged it to the foot of his bed and promptly fell into bed. What good would he be in S.D class if he was slower than molasses? Although it was against his morals to miss school for this type of reason, his mind was very foggy enough at this point to cross his own principles, and his body longed enough for the sleep it sorely needed to not care anymore.

After ten minutes lying on his bed however, he jolted up again, got out of bed, snatched his bag and walked as fast as he could muster down the stairs; he'd changed his mind again after his brain had a gotten a little taste of sleep to regain clarity once more. And his now-cleared mindset was now telling him to get out of bed, get in gear, and catch the Hyne-forsaken bus and his body was rational enough to oblige as he grabbed his lunch and was now headed out the door.

"Hold it!" A voice shouted to his backside. Squall stopped and turned around to find his father scurrying down the stairs behind him.

Tired with the whole situation, he looked at his father wearily and sarcastically tossed a, "…What's wrong now? _Is the house on fire?_"

"No, obviously not." He stated plainly as hopped down the last set of stairs. "You're not planning on driving this morning are you?"

Squall gave him a look for that one. "…No. I don't attempt driving while half-asleep. I was going to take the bus…"

He heard a familiar struggling engine noise echo past him by in the middle of his sentence.

"…and it just passed by."

"Oops, sorry about that one. Listen, I have some important errands and a small meeting during the morning and…since I made you miss the bus… how's a morning to catch up on some sleep sound to you Squall?"

"_err..okay…_I suppose." He replied awkwardly; he still had a hard time swallowing the fact that his father had just suggested skipping a morning's worth of school. Then, another thought surfaced, later converted into speech.

"Actually…Wouldn't it be _better_ if you dropped me off _before _you run your errands?"

Laguna's face contorted slightly in thought. "Yeah, I suppose I _could_ do that, but I'd be cutting it pretty close to the meeting."

"_Hm._" Squall bent over to put aside his backpack rather uneasily by the entrance, not yet accustomed to the fact he was doing this deliberately. As he straightened up and started to slowly walk towards the stairwell again, Laguna made a quick call to the school and by the time Squall was halfway up the stairs, he called out to him once more.

"Squall." The teenager glanced down at father from the higher step yet again.

"Yes…"

"Don't think of it as ditching school, think of it as re-cooperating so that you'll be in a better position to learn…and besides, you'll never get any sleep if you think of it negatively. I'll be back around eleven, make sure to get some rest."

"Yeah…I'll try."

A half-minute later, Squall had already achieved to keep his word, as he plummeted into his mattress noiselessly, deep into a much-needed slumber.

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'_Mm. Better…get up._'

After a couple of hours of nearly uninterrupted sleep, Squall had woken up and calmly got out of his bed onto the left side. Afterwards, he mechanically repositioned the covers and pillows to their original unmarred state. Being comfortably awake for a change, the teenager walked around to find the steely-blue long-sleeve shirt that he took off lazily before dozing off, reason being that he didn't find much logic in changing into his pyjama bottoms again. So, as a natural alternative, he ended up sleeping in his pants and had discarded his shirt, Griever pendant and matching ring instead.

'.._Clink._'

Looking downward, Squall noticed that his feet had nudged the Griever necklace that he had remembered putting away somewhere else, but dismissed the thought as he gravitated towards the linear sight of the sweater hung on his desk's chair. Soon enough, he put it back on and then backtracked towards the metallic chain and swiftly slunk down to collect it, and to attach the clasp around his neck once more. Next and last on Squall's mental list was the ring.

Scanning his eyes around the perimeter once, he did not see a faintest glimmer of the metal ring anywhere, so he decided to check the large desk first, figuring that he might have left it there with the sweater. Nope. Then, before he continued his search, he searched the recesses of his mind, trying to remember the specific place he'd put it pre-nap.

But as hard as he could try - nothing came back, since his memory right before falling asleep was rather fuzzy, nor had he been able to place the ring mentally in any of the traditional spots he would have naturally looked in. He scratched his head in contemplation. Surely it had to be somewhere in the room? It wasn't like it had gotten stolen at this time of day, or get moved somewhere else, since nobody else _should _have in his room.

'-_Wait._' He thought. '_Wasn't the necklace moved from where I remembered putting it? Yeah…it was. Hyne, this is **not** good-_'

In haste, Squall dashed between several places with lighting speed, in the course of things, he had checked the dresser, nightstand, closet and even carefully inspected the floor while he was at it. The lack of the circular metal piece anywhere flustered him, so he redoubled his efforts and revisited all potential areas, but alas, he still came up with nothing. Sweat lightly beaded across his temples as he now was at his wit's end. In an act of desperation, he thoroughly emptied his school bag. All of his textbooks, binders and loose pens poured out with the weight of gravity no longer in their favour, as he shook the knapsack rigorously proceeding its' brief unzipping. No ring emerged in the downpour of school supplies. The adolescent felt defeated, his head hung low as he knelt beside the foot of his bed.

_'Damn, why do I always misplace the smallest yet most valuable things I own? It's one of the few keepsakes I bother to keep and what do I do? I manage to put it somewhere stupid. If I don't find that ring, I'll never...be able to replace it. No other replacement would be suitable enough to fill the void that the other's loss would span. I hope to Hyne it'll turn up somewhere…just anywhere. I can't afford to lose this; I can't afford to lose the memory attached to it…'_

Soon after the midst of bleak thoughts and his underlying instinct kicked in to put back the things he shook out had passed, he got up sombrely, unnaturally moving with a subdued undertone. His eyes were heavy, throat constricted, and nothing appeared right anymore in the room he inhabited at the moment. Maybe some more sleep would wash away the problems… for a little while at least. Maybe it'd make things better for later…

As the invitation for temporary release became too much of a desirable need for the troubled teenager, that said person simply gave up the will to resist it and descended onto the soft, comforting surface. Then, he heard it.

'_Cling-a-ling-ling…_'

Puzzled, he bolted upward and patted down his jean pockets to see if he'd left something like a set of keys or change for that kind of jingle to occur. No, nothing there. He abruptly slumped down towards the mattress again to wallow in his own misery.

'_Cling-a-ling-ling…_'

This time, Squall knew that the origin had to be closer than his empty pockets, so he uncomfortably craned his neck downward to look closer. He found the source of the noise; it was his necklace, with, an atypical addition to it.

'_This is a relief…and yet a nuisance._ _Why did I forget that I left it together like that? I think that next time, I'll write myself a note before falling asleep. I do **not** want to go through this again; it was too much of a close call. Hyne, I was scared of losing this thing._'

As he took a hand and lifted the chain's lowest point away from his chest, he indeed saw the previously missing ring coupled by the Griever ornament itself. So he unclasped the chain, carefully slid the ring off the end, and guided it onto his finger, reattached the clasp, bounded off the bed. Afterwards, he grabbed his bag and coolly headed out from his room without so much as another thought. All which concerned Squall now was that he'd gotten rather hungry from not having breakfast and his recent traumatic experience, so he planned to go to the kitchen for something to eat. Right after, he glanced at his right hand to assure that the ring was still there, and yes, it was still there.

Traveling from his room, down the stairs and the right turn into the kitchen alcove seemed to pass like a blur to Squall, and the moments afterwards he'd spent to have a glass of orange juice and a simple dish of reheated pasta went equally as fast. Getting up from the smaller kitchen table's stool, he put away the bowl into the opposing dishwasher, left the kitchen space and ambled to the living room past the stairs and around the left-hand bend.

After he'd taken two steps into the room, he noticed Laguna slouching on the couch, surfing TV channels mindlessly at a rate of a half-second per station, and then he put down the remote and stretched his arms upward as he stifled an enormous yawn. A loud resounding click was heard halfway through and while Laguna was still stretching his arms with his eyes most likely closed, the channel changed, and from Squall's perspective, it appeared like a B-rated soap opera by the incredibly cheesy acting. There was a towering smarmy dark-haired man and a petite brunette with a doe eyed expression. At that point, Squall wanted to gag from all of the clichés. But then, it got even more incredulously stupid.

---

"_Don't worry, tonight will be just the two of us..." The man cajoled on the screen as he approached the woman and lifted her chin lovingly. The camera shifts temporarily to the woman's face; her eyes seemed to be on the verge of tearing up with quivering lips. _

"_But...your wedding to my sister is tomorrow," She responded timidly. "S-surely you must care for her if you haven't called it off...What will people think if they **catch **us?"_

_The man scoffed loudly. "I don't care what other people think anymore, I've been through enough with the car crash, and besides, I can promise we'll be completely alone. You're the one I really want. Come here." Then, he kissed her passionately. However, she breaks away and starts crying._

"_But you don't understand…My sister has waited all her life to marry someone like you…and I…I don't have much longer to live mine…I have an incurable disease, and I'll die seven months later in childbirth because of… the disease's complications. -I'm… pregnant and your best friend is the baby's father. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."_

---

Squall couldn't bear to watch anymore of this tripe, so he finally walked further into the room to make his presence known. When that wasn't enough to get his sleepy father's attention, he decided to say something rather loudly.

"So… is this what you do during the day while I'm gone?"

As if on cue, when Laguna heard Squall's sarcastic remark, he immediately straightened his posture and abruptly turned to face him.

"Oh Squall, you're finally up, ready to go to school now?" He asked, oblivious to what was displayed on the TV behind him, now showcasing the man shirtless as he was trying to seduce his fiancé's sister some more.

Squall smirked slightly before he replied. "No, maybe not…Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be driving away very fast by myself in a moment, and purposely get into a very violent car crash to get rid of that horrid image over there. So if you don't see me for awhile, you'll know why."

Laguna gave him a perplexed stare and swivelled his head to see what in Hyne's name Squall had been referring to. As soon as saw the soap opera rolling into provocative content in front of him, he plucked out the remote from under the seat of his pants and instantly turned the television off. Then, his excuse flew out of his mouth as Squall casually walked towards the door.

"_No-no..no-no!_ I sat on the remote- didn't you see that? Oh man, this is bad...err, um- Squall come back!" He yelled, and then, while he had just opened the entrance door and strapped his school bag to his back, Squall shifted his regard towards his father and said,

"…Detecting sarcasm isn't really your strong point, _is it?_"

Laguna, thoroughly duped by his son's charade, blinked once, trying to compute what he'd just said, but after it got though, he chuckled loudly at the ruse, even though it wasn't Squall's intention for it to be funny. He got up from the cyan-coloured couch and tailed his son to the door where he seemed to be waiting for him.

"…Ready to go now?" He asked half-humorously, almost as if it were an inside joke. Squall nodded in agreement despite the odd tone.

"Yeah… lets' go." He mumbled tonelessly in return. Meanwhile, where his words stopped, his mind continued.

'-_I've missed so much already, so I don't want to lose any more if I can help it._'

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Despite the staggering amount of red lights they had endured on the way there, Squall had finally arrived to school just in time to catch the beginning of lunch, after Laguna had brought him into the secretaries' office and officially checked him back in. However, since he ate his own lunch already, there wasn't much to do outside from wandering the corridors and possibly reading something in the library. But today, Squall didn't feel like reading much, he felt like doing something else. He didn't know exactly what; he just knew that'd it had to be something else.

Walking amid the scores of students flitting about in the different hallways, Squall fought the crowded and obtrusive masses along the way, and when he managed to even get to his locker, someone diverted his attention right away with a simple whisper of, '_Hey. It's nice to see that you're back._' to his backside. He looked back and inevitably saw Rinoa, holding her things for Art in both arms; his face lit up momentarily before he quickly reverted back to facing his locker and started turn his lock's dial.

"…Don't bother trying to talk to me here, because I'm not going to bother to answer back." He responded coldly, carrying a very evident dual meaning for her ears that he'd hoped she'd catch. Then, he stowed away the knapsack in his grasp.

"Nice try. But you'll have to get used to talking at some point or another." She countered with an equal amount of word flexibility…and then it was fatigued already. "Or…could you at least settle for a change of venue? _Gym corridor maybe?_ Nobody should be there. You can… '_ignore'_ me there."

He turned around towards her for a couple of seconds with a rather void look present on his face and shrugged an equally void and emotionless, "I'll _…think _about it." and then went to shut the locker and blatantly headed towards the mentioned place of meeting; Rinoa took this as a definite sign and travelled the same path five seconds later, being careful to not draw any attention.

A few twists and turns later, and both Squall and Rinoa became completely secluded in the corridor near the gym, which in turn, proved Rinoa's theory right. …Or so they _assumed._

"So…What is it? Did I miss something today?" He inquired freely, openly contrasting his method of phrasing things a few instants ago.

"Oh, nothing really." She briefly noted. "We did a little review in S.D class since you weren't there…Actually, it was because of someone else goofing off and stuff."

"Okay…But that doesn't answer why you insisted that I be here."

"Hold on, I was getting to that. Anyways…There's this school dance Friday and…"

"-and you want_… **me **_to come?" He interjected frigidly as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Rinoa nodded nervously.

"…Sorry, I don't dance."

Rinoa sighed as she prepared to use her plan 'A'. "Well…why did you come to that one dance in Grade ten then?"

Squall tried to avoid answering by shrugging his shoulders as he reflected upon the true reason.

'_You really don't want to know about that…_'

"C'mon Squall," Rinoa coaxed, "there's got to be more of a reason than that…A cute girl there perhaps._.hmm.._"

Still determined to keep his truth silent, he monosyllabically replied with an exasperated _'No._'.

"_-Punishment for something you did?_"

"…Nope."

"_-Father forced you to do something social?_"

"…He wouldn't do that."

"-_Favour to a friend?_"

"…_What_ friend?"

"-Sorry. _Uh_…lose a bet?"

"_How did you gu- err… _No."

Rinoa grinned evilly. "Okay, spill it buster. Who did you lose the bet to?"

Squall looked down and grumbled in annoyance. "…Seifer."

"…_How?_" She wondered all-too sweetly.

Squall frowned at the memory before he recounted the tale. "I accepted a wager of his, stipulating that I wouldn't be able to…_-sigh-_ not say _'Whatever'_ once for an entire week at school and… I blew it on the first day during an English class when… Selphie was my partner for a project. She'd asked if I wanted to do the introduction, and… you can probably already guess what I said to that."

Rinoa giggled. "…You said '_Whatever_', _right?_"

"No." He corrected. "I had said, _'It doesn't really matter.'_ then Seifer came up to me and asked if I was going to try out for the lead in the town's ballet recital this year, and that's when I said _'Whatever'_."

She flinched after restraining the last giggle. "Ooh…that's gotta hurt."

"…_Tell me about it._ It was either going to the dance or wearing a florescent pink shirt the Monday after."

"So…what would have happened if you'd won?" Rinoa inquisitively asked.

"If memory serves… he would have to stay completely silent for two weeks and… if he broke that agreement, he'd have to… wear an old rabbit costume for a day."

"Aww…I wish you would have won…That would have been funny to watch."

Squall lamented internally. '_Yeah, it would have._'

Changing topics, Rinoa resumed talking. "So would you still be able to come to the dance? I promise that you don't _have to _dance, just come with me. We can still have fun."

'_I really don't like the sound of that 'have to'; it sounds like I'll get roped into it somehow…Better stick with my original answer.'_

"Sorry, my answer is still no…I don't like the crowds they attract." He lied convincingly enough.

Rinoa took in a breath. "Well…could you come as a birthday present to me?"

"_Your_…birthday's this weekend?" Squall choked out, and then Rinoa curtly nodded. "…Sorry, I didn't know."

"That's okay. Not too many people know mine anyways… only Selphie. So, will you go?"

He sighed in defeat. "…Sure…_okay_. -On one _condition_ though."

"Name it."

"If anyone asks… just say I lost another bet."

Rinoa grabbed Squall's hand and shook it as if they'd made a deal. "It's done then! Thank you Squall!" Then, she hugged him fervently; however, it took a second or two before he'd fully reciprocated it though.

"At least… you won't have to make some crazy deal with me when my birthday rolls around, since it's in late summer." He quietly commented during the brief hug.

"…_Yeah I know._" She whispered. "…_It's August 23rd right?_"

After that declaration, Squall was thoroughly flabbergasted - visibly **and** mentally.

'…_How did she **know?**_'

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After the lunch period had passed, Squall started feeling _**and** _acting every bit like the walking zombie he'd felt like this morning; hallow in the insides and thoroughly out of it. Luckily for the others, he didn't have the underlying urge to eat brains.

As he went in his Math class and silently took his seat, Squall took out the things he needed for the class, even though he was nowhere near mentally stable enough to fully partake in the learning scheduled for the day. The best he figured he could do was take the notes robotically and read them over later that night if necessary.

'_D-drrr-ring!_'

With an utmost precision, rivalling that of a highly-trained SeeD, the bleach-blonde haired math teacher, Mr. Kiren stood up at the very instant the bell tolled and started to approach the boards.

"Good afternoon class, today we'll start-"

A split-second later, Squall heard the rustling of a few late students dash through the doorway, now catching their breath as soon as they passed the class's threshold. Needless to say, the teacher was not impressed.

"Okay, why are you three late? You've had plenty of time to get here on time, considering the ample amount you're all given for the lunch break."

"Sorry…" The first person, Selphie, wheezed with one hand resting tiredly on her knees. "All three of us were held up in a long-running prom committee meeting. Here's the slip Mrs. Wheedle gave us to give to you."

After Mr. Kiren had read it, he nodded. "Okay, very well then, you three may take your seats. Okay, as I was saying…"

After that moment, Squall no longer had it in him to listen properly or even to look attentive, but seeing as his math teacher had a notable reputation of becoming totally engrossed into every lesson he taught, it didn't really matter if he, or any of his students were **actually** paying attention or not. So, all in all, Squall had no problem what so ever with the possibility of the teacher harassing him to listen. For all Mr. Kiren knew, all of his students could be all asleep and he'd still be teaching, exaggerated hand movements and all. Soon enough, the pseudo-zombie teenager drifted further into his stupor.

'_Nice time to get a girlfriend, a week before her birthday, no time to prepare at all. Why couldn't her birthday be in late December? Nevermind, it's not her birthday that bothers me, it's the dance…What am I going to do? She won't like dancing by herself all night._'

'-_Maybe I could get her out of there soon and take her somewhere else…_'

'_No, she probably wouldn't like that… I better find some other plan, or else I wasted ten gil for nothing…_'

'-_Hyne… I'm screwed._'

"…_Psst. PSST!" _A voice whispered beside him, which ultimately broke him out of his anxiety-induced reverie. The speaker, a fellow student that Squall vaguely knew, tossed him a folded note.

"…_It's not from me, somebody told me to pass it to you._" The guy added quietly.

"…_Hmph._" He mumbled back indifferently as the guy resumed taking down his notes like all of the other non-messenger students. Squall quickly started to make his own transcript onto his notebook of the remaining examples they were supposed to be jotting down, so that he could read the passed note. Oddly enough, the _extremely_ strong inclination of _who_ it was from seemed to fuel his otherwise-lackluster efficiency for writing things down today.

A minute later, Squall had finished what he'd set out to do, and so he immediately opened up the note he'd previously cast aside. However, its' hand writing greatly surprised him. Squall had originally thought Rinoa had sent the note, but rapidly looking at its' form proved him wrong. Before he'd even read it, he scanned the class's set up just to be sure.

'_Wait…she's not even **in**_ _class. How did that fail to register? So… who could have sent this note? No… the question should be **why** anyone would even bother to send me a note. Hmph… might as well read the stupid scrap of paper._'

As he had unfolded it for the second time, he immediately took notice of the tidiness of the printing in a coral, possibly pinkish-peach ink, mentally noting that it was obviously not a male who wrote this.

_You may not exactly know who I am, but I sure know you Squall. Over the weeks, I only had a vague inclination about the thought at first, then, when that one very recent rumour surfaced, it made my suspicions a bit stronger. **But,** it was actually seeing you and Rinoa together in the gym corridor that really made me believe it. Even though I had only seen a tiny bit, what the rumours had mentioned seemed to really fit at that moment. So, I'm really glad for the both of you._

_I apologize for the cryptic nature of the note but, Rinoa had explicitly told me not to tell my congratulations in person to you when I asked her about it, after I'd bumped into her right before third, before she'd left for a dentist appointment. _

_Sincerely,_

_-The anonymous well-wisher in Balamb High _

After Squall had finished reading the note, his mind started to speed through various realisations. How did he not notice this person in the supposedly deserted hallway? Was his perfect little secret in the process of unravelling at the seams fast _already?_ Who was this person_ anyway? _

Then, various things Rinoa had said a couple days prior started to reverberate sharply in his mind, passing through his increasingly-worried state.

"_**Anyways, I might know what's been bugging you today and… as much as it pains me to say it …if you really can't handle being public about us, I'll try and help you get over it. In the meantime, I'll try my best not to act overly suspicious to draw attention… even if I'm not very happy with the whole 'dodge my boyfriend' idea."**_

"**_Hm…Do you suppose that you're just feeling a bit paranoid today because of us… being together?" _**

"_**-Letting go of what? What people think of you? Don't let them bring you down; you'll always be a million times better than what they can possibly ever think of you."**_

"_**Well, as I've said before, until you're ready, I'll be waiting for you when they disappear, then we can be together and happy."**_

After all of those things had passed through his head, Squall took one last look at the note, and then crumpled it up. As soon as the bell had ringed forty minutes later, he stood up with his books in one hand, and the wad of paper in the other, walked to a garbage bin, threw it in and promptly left with the others. Instead of being depressed that the secret he'd been harbouring for the past few days had already started to gradually shifted away from its' obscure original shroud to the ever-clearing visibility, he was now becoming slightly more receptive to that fact.

'_Maybe…I'm going to have to learn how to deal with this… much faster than I expected after all…Because right now, with the way it stands at this moment, it doesn't seem like I'm going to have a choice soon- if this keeps up with the way that it has been already._'

After he had gone down the stairwell to get to his locker, he saw Rinoa's figure stick out in the groups of people continuously shifting to and from the various classes located on the first floor; she had been the only one wearing a coat in the midst. Then, he stopped moving. Eventually, when she came closer and closer, and finally passed him, Squall noticed that she was pretending to not notice him at first; he generally assumed that she didn't want to draw attention to him, figuring that he wouldn't respond to her anyway. So, he took it upon himself to loosely follow her to her own locker.

This time, when Rinoa was the one who happened to be putting away her things, Squall bravely reversed the role she'd played earlier during their lunch.

"_So…I see you're back._" He whispered behind her, Rinoa immediately turned around.

"-Oh…_err -um_ Squall, didn't see you there!" She chirped rather hesitantly. "_Did I_… happen to miss anything in Math?"

"…_Well,_ if you count receiving a note saying that they know about us from an '_anonymous well-wisher_', _then yes_._"_ He divulged subtly.

Rinoa cheeks tinged bright red at that instant. "…_Oh boy._"

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Well, I'm sorry that I'm a day late for this one, but it had to be triple-checked for quality, grammar and stuff. _What can I say?_ I'm just a paranoid person when it comes to that. Heh… Oh well, it's better to be late than crappy I suppose. Anywho, I hope you liked the chapter preceding the dance, and yes, Squall _will_ be going to that.

Muahahaha! God I'm evil!

Ahem…anyways, if you guys can review with whatever you have to comment on, that'd be swell.

-And _yes_, you heard me, I said _swell. So what are you going to do about it?_

Just kidding around guys…_hehe…_

_-Emerald Latias_


	6. Chapter VI – An Event to Remember

**Author's Notes – **Another chapter under my belt and plenty more to go, what more could an author want? Heh, nevermind… Anywho, for all of those wondering, this chapter will be the one that features the dance that's been talked about for the last two chapters, so be prepared because something is going to happen!

_Hooray! Err…better get started then.._

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**Chapter VI – An Event to Remember**

The two teenagers now stood still in the flurry of constantly changing atmosphere. The corridor itself was not designed for tolerating the stagnant nature, as the fluctuating nature of it all forced the both of them to part ways and start to get ready for their fourth period History class for one simple reason; the warning bell had tolled and the influx of students had questionably rose, along with an insupportable saturation point of noise. However, despite the raising decibel level, Rinoa found enough time to say one more thing.

"Squall, we'll talk about this later…_Promise?_" She pleaded.

He grunted a slight "_…Hm._" in response with a discreet nod, and left before another word was uttered.

As he now walked alone, moving along the crowed halls seemed rather different today than it usually did. He briefly scanned his head around for something physically different, although nothing in particular drew his attention like a fight, a nasty verbal assault or maybe even a somewhat claustrophobic environment per say. While he ambled in a fluid pace, he searched his brain at the same time, racking it for an answer. The only possibility left was a disturbance on more of a mental plane, contrary to a physical one. Squall had been surprised at this sort of rapid deduction, because in the not-too distant past, he'd never been good at deciphering these sorts of things for himself – it usually came to him only if someone pointed it out.

-And in the vast majority of cases, no one ever did.

'…_Why is anything and everything managing to constantly set me off at the moment? Hyne, if it's not one thing, it's another, my insomnia, the dance, now **this**. This is so aggravating…I sometimes wish I hadn't gotten myself into all this…'_

'_-But…do I really mean it?'_

'_No…it's just the pressure getting to me, that's got to be the reason…Perhaps after this week will be done, things will calm down for the better.'_

'_-I hope so…'_

A little later, after he'd been to his locker and retrieved his history textbook and other things for his fourth period class, Squall backtracked to use an alternate route to his history class, only because the normal way had been ironically been blocked off by a minor scuffle which had broken out near the closest stairwell.

Going a little faster, almost in a pace comparative to a dash, Squall found himself deftly maneuvering against the tide of students, a purely contrasting experience to when he'd been traveling in the other direction, and soon, he eventually reached the stairs he'd originally came from after his math class. A minute later, he approached the class's door and went to open it, only to realize that it would not budge. He looked up. A small notice had been tacked on the door.

_Fourth period 12th grade history (CHY4U) with Mrs. Kramer has been cancelled for today._

_-Please report to the secretaries' office promptly to take attendance. Thank you._

Squall sighed at his slight misfortune, and yet, as he looked back, there was at least the small consolation in knowing that he wasn't the only one who'd ran to class for nothing; Quistis, Zell and Rinoa had all exchanged identical looks of exasperation subsequent to reading the same notice, and as the three collectively groaned in annoyance, he felt slightly better afterwards, while they all started to retrace their steps back down.

"If only those guys weren't taking it out on each other by the usual stairs, none of us would have had to run all the way there! …Talk about wasting time!" Zell commented rather sourly, as they neared the stairway.

Rinoa chimed in after. "Yeah, that really did suck. I mean… if you're going to go and fight someone, pick a bigger place where you're not going to block everyone else off…What do you think Quistis?"

"_Hmm…_My thoughts were pretty much the same; even then, they should have waited until they were out of school to do something like that. Attending school should be left for learning, not to prove that you can beat someone up physically… In all honesty, some people really need to grow up."

Squall's ears started to turn a bright shade of red after hearing Quistis's comment, but lucky for him, none of them saw because he'd been behind the pack.

"Quis, you do realize it's not always like that?" Zell reasoned defensively. "-Sometimes you just hafta defend yourself or they'll walk all over ya, and being known as a wuss won't help either. 'Cause more people will start pickin' fights with you and the fights double, even triple and you get nowhere."

"That's all fine and dandy Zell, but sometimes you can resolve things with words you know." Rinoa added.

Zell shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah…only _sometimes,_ not _all_ the time." Then, he turned and faced backwards. "Squall, does talking to Seifer ever make him go away and stop bothering you?"

After that question, Zell and the two girls stopped right before the top flight of stairs, all of them looking at Squall, clearly waiting for their points to be proven. Squall himself gave them a most peculiar look, in addition to being slightly perplexed as to why they'd be vying for their reasoning to be justified, solely based by his response. Figuring that he didn't want to hear all of them yelling at each other, he thought of an answer to suit both sides.

"…I don't know about you three, but I'm going downstairs before they mark me absent." He responded nonchalantly as he passed them and started to go down the steps.

By miraculous luck, his plan had worked, for they all stood there confused for a brief second, and later had seemingly forgotten about their personal debate while trying to catch up to his descending figure down the stairs.

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After everybody in the cancelled history class had been carefully checked off on the attendance sheet, they were free to do whatever they pleased, or even leave if they wished to do so. Squall, unlike the majority of his class, didn't leave to go home or to the mall, however, at the same time, just like the majority, he had indeed left school grounds – albeit it was only when he stepped past the technical property line in the shed, since he and Rinoa had both carefully snuck away from the others when they'd branched off and went in other directions.

As they sat down on their respective sides inside the subdued environment, Squall's eye looked at his companion's with the utmost seriousness and intensity, but when she reciprocated the gaze, his expression wandered sideways.

"Squall…" Rinoa demurely addressed. "…Please, can you look at me? I know that it'll be hard to swallow what I'll have to say next, but…I want to make sure that you hear it."

Ignoring the plea, Squall still kept his off-side glance. "_…Why should I bother?_" He refuted to the ground beside her. _"…Why did I even bother coming here anyway?"_

During the time he began to displace himself from the desk he'd been sitting on, Rinoa reached over and rasped his hand. The soft and warm hold she had on him caused him to glimpse upward to Rinoa herself, and when he saw that her eyes were so richly coloured with a sentiment of concern, he stopped moving altogether.

"Squall…sometimes, you just need to hear the things you don't really want to hear." She commented. "It's almost like… _umm_… icky-tasting medicine. –_Yeah…_that's it. You know that you need the medicine, even if you don't like the thought of tasting it."

Squall looked downwards. "Fine…I'll stay."

"So…what do you want to _know?_" Rinoa inquired timidly.

'_-Why you said that you'll wait for me, and yet… you break the promise twice.'_ He thought instantly without reservation. _'-Behind my back as well, I might add.'_

In the corners of his eye, Squall caught the scrutinizing look Rinoa gave him as she craned her neck down to match his eye level. His gaze rose cautiously a second later, head still facing slightly downward. He groaned with contempt.

"Why… is it that you promise to abide by me and wait until _I_ was ready to deal with this myself, and yet…_not even a **couple **days later…_you've already broken it _twice?_" He prompted vindictively. Rinoa's expression cringed severely.

"_Oh dear._" She gaped. "…I thought you understood about the first time when I told Selphie.."

"-Don't assume that I _didn't_, because I **_do_**, but that doesn't hide the fact that you broke it twice." He responded coldly with his arms crossed, steely glare now facing directly at Rinoa.

"But…you don't know what exactly-"

"_-happened?_ …If all you're going to do is make excuses, then why did you _promise?_"

"**_Ooh! _**You're making this much more difficult that it need to be Squall! I made the promise because I thought that you were just having a hard time coming out of your shell! I made the promise so that you'd feel more comfortable and secure with the idea in the future by managing this by yourself, on your own time. I can't help it if people ask me about it, so what do you want me to do? Say no and have them call me a liar later on?"

Rinoa had caught him by her question, and so he let out a big sigh and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"…Regardless of what you may think, at least I did you the courtesy of not talking about it without being asked in the first place, and obliged to go to different places to accommodate you, so you've got to give me that much."

"…Fine." He conceded begrudgingly with a shrug. "But… who asked you this time?"

"It was Quistis."

"…_Quistis?_" Squall repeated in a confused tone. "…Wasn't she…_there_ when you told Selphie?"

"No, it's actually a funny story-"

"-Well I'm not laughing…" He injected harshly.

"Well _duh_, you weren't there! As I was saying… a little after you'd left, I was about to talk and then Quistis looked at her watch and said, '_Sorry, I can't stay right now, I forgot that I'm supposed to be tutoring someone in the library!_', but after she was long gone, Selphie whispered in my ear, '_Quistis doesn't tutor at lunch, it's after school when she's supposed to tutor. I think she's making an excuse not to hear what you're going to say.'_, so I said, '_Why's that, didn't she want to know?_' and _that's _when Selphie told me."

"…Tell you _what?_"

"Squall, don't you _see?_" Rinoa giggled, meanwhile Squall shrugged once again. "_Wow… _you really **are** oblivious. The reason Quistis changed her mind so fast was because…_she_…_he_e._.oh boy-_"

Tired with the constant pauses, Squall finally decided to intervene. "...Can you stop with the interruptions and just tell me, I'm obviously not going to grasp what you're trying to convey here…"

"That's my point _exactly_ Squall!" She exclaimed. "What Selphie told me was _that_…Quistis **_used_** to have a crush on you for so long and you never knew it! That's why she didn't want to hear me, because even if she'd gotten over you a while ago, she still didn't want to hear me say that we were together."

Squall immediately felt out of his seat upon hearing what Rinoa'd just said, or he… thought he did, but in reality, he just had the most dumbfounded look in the history of the planet present on his face. _Actually…_it was more of a confused look mingled with a _'Did I just hear what I thought I heard?' _sort of traumatized stare. Rinoa giggled herself into hysterics after seeing his expression for it was so utterly priceless.

"I…didn't know _your…ha…_face could go so…shocked in a split-second…" Rinoa panted between laughs. "Maybe I shouldn't have…_-pfft-_ said any-_…hee_…-thing…"

"_No_…It's okay, I _suppose_… It's that… what you said…_kinda _made a little…_err – a lot _of sense now that _I…_ think back…" He mumbled awkwardly.

"Yeah…I know what you mean. This sort of thing happened to me twice before, so I pretty much know how it is. So I guess.. we're in the same boat, _huh?_"

'…_Twice before? I wonder who she had been referring to…_' Squall fleetingly wondered.

"So…getting back to the subject," Rinoa continued, cautiously transitioning the subject, "…are you… still mad at _me?_ I may not have been doing certain things in your interest, but… you should know that I'm doing my best to help you in my own way."

Squall's previously confounded expression had shifted into something much more reflective and subdued as he looked down in contemplation. After, when he was ready to answer, his gaze returned to look Rinoa square in the eye again.

"…Do you really want to know my answer?" He incited, while somehow managing to increase the sharpness in his stare during the process, Rinoa however, didn't look away.

"Yes, and I don't care if you are, because we can work through that. …I just want to know."

"Well… To tell the truth, I'm not mad…" Rinoa's eyes instantly illuminated at that point, but the flicker easily diluted when he ended his sentence. "…but I'm slightly ticked off though."

"…In what way?"

"If it's okay with you…I'd rather not talk about it." He dismissively responded, blue eyes softening.

"Sure…okay. _I…_I understand." Rinoa stumbled as she looked down at her hands which she had unconsciously wedged in between her knees beforehand. Squall got up slowly from his previously seated position and as he quietly left towards the shed's entrance, neither one of Rinoa's hands had attempted to restrain him from leaving.

"…Squall?" She called out. He turned slightly to face her. "…Are you still coming to the dance?"

"I'll…think about it."

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The day had pretty much passed without much warning, and had left Squall alone in midst of his thoughts in the middle of absolute darkness, otherwise known as his room, before he knew it. In his bed, after he rolled onto his side for what had to have been the umpteenth time, he simply gave up on the very thought of slumber. Then, he grumbled loudly in discontent.

'_Well it looks like I'll be heading to the doctor's next week. It's officially day four of this insomnia crap. I wonder if I'll end up beating that seventeen day record…'_

'_-Right now, that seems **very **plausible to outdo. Hooray. I am so excited. **–Not.** …Hell, my sarcasm is coming back in full vigour. …Maybe it'll be good for that at least, -Ergh… I've got to get out of here, it's reminding me too much about the sleep I can't have.'_

With the dexterity of a world-class athlete, Squall bounded off the bed with the utmost ease and walked towards the door, opened it, went through, turned right, and simply sat himself down by the top of the stairs, with his back leaned uncomfortably against a wall, more specifically, a spot on the right side of the guest room's door.

'…_I'm all screwed up, physically and mentally. I'm not sleeping well, I can't seem to cope with anything anymore, and I think I'm starting to… resent myself. Hyne, I don't even know if I want to show up to this stupid dance anyway-' _

'_-No, I can't start to think like that, then I'd be a hypocrite… and a really inconsiderate jerk…'_

'_I suppose… it's like she said, sometimes you have to do the things you don't want to do… Might as well try to go back to bed now. At least I could try for…three hours of sleep.'_

As he walked back, his attention occasionally wavered towards some of the various opened doors he'd passed along the way. On his left, the guest room's nightstand caught his vision with the brightly illuminated red numbers of the digital clock on top of it. 3:45 am it read. Squall glanced away. Soon after, on his right, through the slight crack in the doorway to Laguna's room, he spotted his father's exaggerated but slumbering figure resting peacefully inside. Squall averted his gaze yet again. A couple of seconds later, once more on his right-hand side, the restless adolescent entered the bathroom.

Without hesitation, he turned on the sink to run the cold water, and then splashed some onto his face vigorously and meticulously attempted to purge himself from the negative stupor. After he'd literally water-logged his head with the frigid downpour he stopped the flow of water and lifted his face upwards and peered at his own expression - despite the droplets of water sliding down his face and more notably past his eyes.

Essentially, what he saw was his own blanched expression tinged with the dewy drops gliding down his features, while had also enveloped him in a faint bluish tint. His eyes still appeared to have a forlorn aura about them, and his general appearance looked ragged and very haggard in certain areas. Squall clenched his fists in defeat and fervently dropped them down against the countertop with a resonating thump. In an instant later, he trudged out of the room.

He marched over to the adjacent side of the hallway, directly into his bedroom and collapsed onto the mattress of his bed, arms flailed backwards and everything.

'_I give up…' _He lastly thought in bitter defeat before attempting to sleep once more. _'…Huh? What's this?'_

He wriggled his left foot in curiosity after he sensed a foreign object stuck to it, and by pure luck, his inclination had been correct since the object, a piece of paper, _had_ fallen off, which in turn, proved his theory.

After he repositioned his body towards the bed's edge, he picked up the paper and subsequently refrained himself from slapping his forehead in pure irony and disbelief.

'_-Of all the things it could have been, it **had** to be this…I swear…it must be a Hyne-forsaken sign.' _Squall denoted dryly, right before he tossed the paper askew and crashed for the night. The paper itself had been an ink drawing that Rinoa must have drawn Saturday morning while he'd been doing his homework…and as luck would have it, it depicted a couple dancing gracefully in a fairytale ballroom setting.

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As he waited outside of a rather large structure, also known as Balamb Garden, Squall started to get bored with all of the subtleties associated with pretending like he wasn't waiting for a certain someone. He was also fed up with all of the strange looks he'd been receiving, and the obvious thoughts fuelling them, since Squall knew without a shadow of a doubt that all of those who were eyeing him questionably were all thinking, _'Why is **he** here?' _or at least a minor variation of that particular notion. _–Hell_, even he'd be thinking that too if he wasn't here because of a promise.

After stifling an enormous yawn, Squall absent-mindedly checked the time off of his watch. The time was now 6:54, or more specifically, it was 6:54 pm on Friday, March 1st; precisely six minutes before the event he wanted to avoid altogether would occur. Squall couldn't believe how fast Friday had crept up on him without so much as a warning, much to his displeasure.

While still leaning against the entrance gates, he resumed his now-familiar façade; looking at the ground beneath him, rubbing his eyes, changing up his position every few minutes, along with some of the other little nuances to his exceptionally convincing performance.

A few minutes had passed; Squall knew this to be true since he'd gotten into a very annoying habit of consulting his watch at an increasing frequency. Seven o'clock came and went without much difference; Rinoa didn't show and he was still waiting faithfully, without even a flicker of deviation. He was going to stick it out, regardless if she showed up forty minutes late or missed the whole thing altogether. Heck, that'd be a good thing in his opinion…outside the fact that he'd probably be freezing in the colder temperatures.

After he lingered around for twenty minutes after the dance officially was in full swing, Squall started to get a little irritated with just waiting at the gate, his legs were getting somewhat achy from all of the standing he'd been doing, and as predicted, he was getting rather cold as the temperate climate had now gave way to the cold winds of the night, and on the same note, he started to see his own breath visibly escape from his now-shuddering body.

Then, a few moments later, a regal-looking black car pulled up to the entrance itself with its' headlights nearly blinding him in process. Before he knew it, the automobile's lights were cut and he saw through the haziness of his vision what seemed to be a formally dressed man stepping out of the driver's side and a lady in a dress getting out on the passenger's side right in front of him. At this point, his eyesight was still impaired from the bright lights earlier, so he shielded his eyes with his arms.

"So, what are you doing out here young man? Aren't you aware that the dance is _inside_ the Garden?" A seemingly older man inquired with a firm tone, footsteps sounding like he was now approaching him and the front entrance.

"_Father…_why do you always have to be so harsh with everyone?" The female voice countered. "…You don't know if he was just waiting for …**_someone_** to show up."

After he heard the girl speak, Squall immediately moved his arms away from his face and tried to open his eyes to see if the person matched who he thought it was. Within a fraction of a second, he was absolutely stunned with what he saw.

…Namely because he was totally off the mark with the person he thought it was. What he saw in front of him was not Rinoa and General Caraway; it was Quistis in a coral cocktail dress a man who he obviously knew to be her father.

"Oh… is that you Squall?" She wondered after he'd put his arms aside.

"Well, it's _um_…good to see you. Oh_ Hyne, _I nearly forgot-" The hem of Quistis's dress twirled gracefully as she quickly swiveled towards the car door and pushed down a button which seemly unlocked another, seeing as she opened the back door consequent to that.

"Sorry about that, the car's rather tempermental regarding the back door lock." She apologized to the occupant who had been previously sitting in the backseat.

"Don't worry about it Quisty, my car's funny like that too." And as another dress-clad girl emerged, Squall was astonished yet again.

-Because it **_still_ **wasn't Rinoa, but rather Selphie in a sparkly orange dress. After they'd both left to go inside, Squall was still waiting outside, now a little crestfallen.

'_Tap. Tap._'

"…Look, if you're going to harass me about being outside…I'm not going to bother listening." Squall responded acidly without turning around to face the prodder, it was only afterward when he finally twisted around to see the person.

"Uh… sure. Look kid…I really need to get to the extra garbage receptacle, the dance they're having in there is getting to be a real haven for styrofoam cups and plates."

As he moved aside, Squall made a very sarcastic remark inside his head, '-_Oh for the love of God… A janitor? What's next? Is the trash bin going to come up and surprise me?_'

Then another somebody had poked him from the behind. "Uh…Squall?"

"…**_What?_**" He spat irritably.

"_Wow_… you almost look hot when you're angry like that." The speaker teased candidly, and then he finished turning around to face the person.

At that point, Squall instantly regretted his choice of tone, because it _was _finally Rinoa this time and he immediately came to the conclusion that she must have been late on account of her radiant appearance.

The raven-haired beauty had been wearing a form-flattering indigo halter-style dress, along with some intricate detailing on the bottom half of the gown, sparkling beautifully without drawing too much attention away from Rinoa herself. Although she didn't do anything special to her hair, or put on any makeup as far as Squall could detect, it didn't matter anyway because the mind-numbing effect still happened regardless.

"…Relax Squall, it was only a joke, you don't have to give me that look…_hee._" She clarified jokingly. "Either way… you still look _really_ good in that dark unbuttoned dress shirt with the white shirt underneath… Been working out lately?"

"_Uh…no._" He answered rather awkwardly. "…You look ..nice."

"_-Thanks._ Now lets' get inside before we freeze to death! _C'mon Squall!_" She declared cheerfully before grabbing his arm and skillfully pulled him towards the inside.

'_A little too late for that…_' He quipped mentally.

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"Oh why hello there Rinoa, I didn't know that you were going to show up, all ready to join the festivities?" Mr. Kiren, their math teacher-turned door man light-heartedly asked while he straightened his posture immediately in his seat by the 'Quad' entrance. Rinoa smiled.

"Yes, I think so sir. Here's my ticket."

"Wonderful," He noted as he put the ticket through the specially-made box beside him and promptly stamped her right hand. "Well, have a good time now."

"I sure will." Rinoa lastly added before passing through. Then, after a few conveniently-planned moments later, Squall inched his way up to give the teacher his own ticket.

"Aah, Mr. Leonhart, I haven't seen you to one of these shindigs in a while now, a little more careful with your bets now are we?" Mr. Kiren mused aloud. Somehow, his mirthful tone eerily reminded Squall of his father.

"I guess…" Squall responded indifferently.

"Well, I suppose you can't win 'em all. Just try to enjoy yourself if you can." He continued before he took his ticket and stamped his hand just like he'd previously done with Rinoa. "And there you go, you're all set."

'_Joy…_'

Mentally refraining himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance, Squall merely resorted to going ahead quickly before the opportunity presented itself all too perfectly.

After he'd passed through the doors and into the Quad, Squall noticed the sheer volume in the scores of excited students- who'd obviously bought their tickets, gauging by the warmer surroundings, the noise reverberating in the distance and by the general sight of crowds everywhere and anywhere. At that point, Squall immediately felt an awful sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost as if it plummeted down to his knees, maybe even further - if at all possible.

"Why if it isn't Squally-boy over _here?_" A taunting voice drawled as he came through the masses right in front of him.

Squall's stomach plummeted further.

'_Hyne… Why didn't I think of the possibility…He's going to milk **this** for all it's worth that's for sure. …**God dammit!**_'

Seifer's smirk intensified after he saw Squall's scowl deepen. "Why so glum Puberty boy? Aren't you happy to **_see_** me?"

"-I think you already know the answer to _that_ one Seifer." He disputed sardonically, trying hard not to cross the line of civility or to make a scene as he clenched his jaw tightly.

The blonde's smirk lessened slightly. "Better stop doing that or your girlfriend might not be too pleased about that…"

"…_What did you say?_" Squall countered defensively, his stance stiffening.

"_Oh…_ so Puberty Boy **_does_** have a girlfriend… and here I was guessing around just to get a rise outta you! _Aha, ha,_ this is pretty hilarious.. Okay, okay… so who is _it? The old librarian bat? Well…_ that _does_ make sense seeing as you go-"

"-Seifer, stop it nowI'm not in the mood for your moronic jokes." Squall responded smartly, oddly enough, Seifer didn't continue.

"…Well if you _don't _have a girlfriend, then why are you here_ exactly?_ I don't remember you losing another bet to me."

"…I have my own reasons." He justified concisely, Seifer shrugged it off however.

"Meh, that just doesn't cut it for me Leonhart, I _know_ that something's up around here."

"Whatever."

Just as Squall turned away to leave, he noticed that Rinoa started to scamper up to him. His eyes widened in sheer horror, but still, it didn't stop Rinoa. However, when she saw Seifer with a quizzical look behind him, she immediately stopped in her tracks and went in another direction. After that, Seifer leisurely walked around Squall in a slow and satisfied gait, and then he swiveled around to face him directly. Squall did his best to keep a nonchalant stare, trying not to give any indication of anything, but deep down, he knew that it didn't matter because Seifer's mouth curved into one of the most devious grins he'd ever seen him in.

"Well, I got to leave you now Squally, Fuijin and Raijin just got here, but at least remember to have some _fun _tonight, because I know I will." He added in a rather ominous tone before he left.

A few minutes later, Rinoa carefully approached him once again while everyone else seemed to be either on the dance floor or at least by the snack table near the entrance.

"You… okay?" She asked worriedly.

"…I'm fine." He assured emptily, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh, that's…good. I thought that Seifer had upset you by the look you gave me earlier."

"Hm." He mumbled unresponsively, eyes still not focusing on anything anymore.

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'…_When will this be over? It seems like it's been an eternity already…_'

Slumped over in an unoccupied corner, Squall was now mulling over random things for a lack of a better term. It had been over two hours since he'd first passed through the Quad doors, and he had done nothing but sit around other than to occasionally get up to get some ultra-diluted fruit punch from the table near the entrance. Wallowing in his own misery, he slumped over furthermore; he'd just seen Rinoa dancing over at the other end on the dance floor, smiling and giggling up a storm.

'-_Yeah right…_' He thought. Squall knew for a fact that she wasn't anywhere near as happy as she was pretending to be right now. Her true feelings were as see-through as spotless window to him, but to everyone else, she was as shrouded as a shadow in the dark as far as her real sentiments were concerned. The simplicity of it all was eating Squall alive, and as much as he wanted to see her happy and be able to dance with her freely, his mind wouldn't allow him.

A little later, Squall dared to turn his head to see the apparent commotion which was going on near the stage. After mentally calculating the number of people gathered close to the platform, he figured that it was only another random activity the dance committee was putting on, so he went on as if nothing was happening.

_Well_…that _was_ the case until Rinoa came up to him and fervently yanked him by his arm from his sitting position. This time Squall didn't even question why she was dragging him in this fashion, and quite frankly, he honestly deserved it.

"There's an activity going on by the stage, and the dance committee asked everyone to come." She explained demurely.

"…What kind of activity?" He inquired bravely, assuming that she was most likely still mad at him.

"Oh, I think it has something to do with the 'insurance' stuff they were doing earlier." Rinoa replied calmly.

"…_Insurance?_"

"Oops, that's right, you were too far away to hear about it," Squall recoiled guiltily during her pause. "…They were selling 'insurance' about… ten minutes ago. Basically how it works is that if you paid 2 gil for 'insurance', they'd give you a special stamp on your hands and you were exempt from something …_uh.._ Which I can't seem to remember it right now."

"…It doesn't matter Rinoa, I get it."

"Oh good."

"Rinoa…" Squall addressed softly. She stopped to look at him before they went behind a large table. "I'm sorry if tonight wasn't the kind of evening you were hoping for."

"Uh_…Sq- you…err-_You don't have to worry, it was probably selfish of me to have asked you so soon. Maybe we can do something Sunday instead? No dances I swear."

"That's sounds…doable."

"Perfect. C'mon, we should probably go down to the stage since neither of us bought any 'insurance'." She giggled. Squall smiled ever so lightly, since he was simply glad that she hadn't taken tonight's disaster so harshly. As they got back up and neared the stage like everyone else had already done, Selphie poked through the huge gathering, ran up to them and grabbed both of their hands.

"There you guys are!" She announced over-dramatically. "You two got picked and they called your names three times already! Uh oh, it looks like neither of you brought the insurance either. Ooh…I don't envy you guys…"

As she brought them towards center-stage, Squall's eyebrows furrowed further in confusion, meanwhile Rinoa was going rather red from stifled laughter.

"That's weird… I never get picked for anything! Ha…ha.." Rinoa confessed in an oddly euphoric state. "So what will we have to do when we're up there Selphie?"

"Ooh, I don't know Rin, but it's probably going to be embarrassing though. At least the both of you will end up with a prize at the end!"

After Selphie had lead them to the stage, or in Squall's case, it was more like pushed to the stage, the lead organizer, a pint-size girl with peroxide-blonde hair, who had been clad in an all-pink ensemble, had started explaining what was going to happen, almost as if she was pretending to be a MC on an illustrious game show.

"Oh! Well it looks like neither of our two winners bought any insurance by looking at their _hands!_" The girl commentated in a really aggravating pitch. Given the choice, Squall would have liked to put some tape over her mouth to prevent her from speaking, since the squeakiness of her voice was starting to hurt his ears, but unluckily for him, she continued.

"So… they'll have to spin the wheel I have behind me to see what they'll have to do before getting their prizes!"

"…Do I **have** to do _this?_" Squall asked crossly, obviously reluctant with the whole idea.

"Yeah you do, because all of the options on the wheel require _two_ people to do them." The organizer replied in a snippy tone.

'…_Wonderful. Just wonderful._'

"Okay Rinoa, you can spin the wheel now!" She declared.

"_Er_…Okay."

With bated breath, everybody in the crowd waited for the wheel to stop and give them the task that they'd have to do, obviously for the sake of entertainment. The bright colours of the wheel blended together as it spun around fast from Rinoa's forceful push down on the right side. Squall's eyes couldn't help but stare at the wheel itself, and waited to find out what kind of torture he'd have to be put through. At least it distracted him a little bit from the heat radiating from the crowd's stare towards him and Rinoa. After reflecting upon the notion, he shifted uncomfortably.

After about a good ten seconds, the wheel's marker started to slow down accordingly with the wheel itself. At that point, Squall could read all of the possibilities given from the wheel, and as it turned out, they were all just embarrassing and complicated dances except for maybe the waltz.

"-Okay! It landed on the… tango! Okay, here's how it works. In order to receive the prize, you two have to do a tango in front of everyone, but… in case if you guys **_don't_** know how to do the tango, there's an alternate option which requires you two to do… something much more embarrassing. So what will it be?"

"We'll take the tango." Rinoa answered quickly, and then Squall glared at her as if she was hopping mad.

"Okay, just tell the DJ when you two are ready to start…unless if there are any objections…"

"Just take my lead, it'll be fine." Rinoa mouthed quietly to him. Squall arched an eyebrow at first, but faintly nodded in uncertainty later on. "No objections here, you can start."

As the festive music started playing, Rinoa's eyes illuminated warmly in some kind of revelation, but still, he didn't have an inkling to why this was, seeing as the situation was the most embarrassing and bleak he'd ever had during his relatively reserved and non-obtrusive school career. If he'd been given the option to do so, Squall would have chosen to wear a neon pink shirt with matching ballerina shoes at school over being here at this present moment. Mainly because he could have easily died twice from all the embarrassment he had suffered through already, and the fact that he didn't know how to tango wasn't helping any.

"Take my hand Squall." Rinoa whispered, but for some reason, Squall's arms and legs weren't responding to his brain and he just stood there, stiff as a board. "_Squall_… we'll have to do something _worse_ if we can't start."

The blonde organizer groaned in annoyance. "…_Tick-tock, tick-tock,_ the crowd's waiting for you _two!_ If you don't start within _hmm_… _ten_ seconds, you'll have to take the _alternative! And it's not going to be pretty!_"

Rinoa bit the bottom of her lip nervously, and then held out her hands, waiting for him to take hold of at least one of them. Surprisingly enough, Squall sighed quietly and gave in. However, when he tried to move forward, his legs still weren't co-operating, not because of reluctance, because of a weird prickly paralysis, almost as if he couldn't feel them at all.

"_Don't tell me… _your legs… fell asleep, did they?" Rinoa gasped. Regardless of how hard he tried, his legs didn't regain feeling under the ten second deadline. Inevitably, the whiny announcer girl resumed talking, to nearly everyone's dismay.

"_Time's up!_ Looks like you two have to take the _alternative!_" She screeched. For some reason, Rinoa was now slightly peeved, not that Squall could blame her though.

"Hey, that's not fair, his legs fell asleep!" She explained, and pointed to his legs for extra emphasis. Unfortunately for Rinoa, there wasn't a single person in the area who believed her story since nearly all of them were laughing for a second or two, thinking that Squall would never do a tango willingly.

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't change the fact that you didn't start within the ten seconds." The girl reasoned back with an insincere smile. "Now, for the alternative…you'll both have to-"

At that moment, when Squall's eyes unconsciously wavered behind the annoying organizer, he saw someone, none other than Seifer himself, pass her a small, folded note into her right hand. When Seifer caught his glare, he did nothing more than sneer back in satisfaction as she started to read the note aloud.

"You'll both have to… _kiss?_ Is this some kind of joke? Because that's not very disgusting if you ask me…" She said quizzically. Meanwhile, some people in the crowd where starting to get a little loud and rowdy.

"_C'mon, just get it over with!"_

"_Aww, how cute!_"

"-_We want to start dancing again!"_

"_Go Rin, you can do it!_"

After a few seconds later, when most of the shouting died down, the announcer girl finally regained control. "Well, I guess there's no avoiding it, whenever you're ready…"

When Squall started to slightly edge away from the figurative spotlight, he saw Rinoa move towards him further and further with an ever-growing smirk present on her face, and he wasn't too sure what to make of it at all, but when the grin began to grow a little mischievous, he started to wonder if she was going to make up for him not dancing with her earlier. After all, this _was_ Rinoa Heartilly - mischievous girl extraordinaire.

When he had no more room to back away, courtesy of the impeding circular formation of the crowd, Rinoa's grin lessened slightly as she mouthed a near-silent, '_Don't worry, this will be over quick._'. When he finally stopped moving, and gave up somewhat unwillingly, she decided to pull a fast one over him and planted a nice long kiss on his lips.

Despite his obvious shocked expression on his face and recoiled body position, most of the people applauded the both of them, with some cheering and laughter brought in the mix, along with a couple of catcalls and crude remarks as well.

As soon as the crowd dissipated, Squall immediately headed towards a far-away and secluded table to retreat from the majority. As he sat down, his thoughts immediately went into overdrive to access everything that just occurred.

Unfortunately, the noise distracted him greatly and by the time it had settled down, Rinoa was now sitting at the table.

"…Squall?"

"…_What?_" He replied gruffly as looked her square in the eye.

"What I did earlier was just an over-the-top act, just so that…nobody would suspect anything." She explained. However, her gaze wasn't facing him, but rather the wooden table instead.

'_**Oh really?** I was under the impression that you wanted to achieve the opposite. Congratulations, you've got your wish…_'

He sighed, gaze softening slightly. "…In case if you're wondering, I don't particularly care why you did it; it's simply the fact that you _did_ do it."

"_Okay, okay…_" She mumbled in defeat before changing the subject. "On a different note though, don't you think that it was a really big coincidence that the both of us got called up, _huh?_"

Rinoa's comment instantly sparked a purely sarcastic thought inside Squall's head. '_Yeah… I'm so surprised that having Seifer behind the whole thing didn't account for anything at all. **Big** surprise there…_'

Right after Rinoa had spoken and Squall had finished his sardonic thought, another commotion seemed to be happening near the stage with the sharp raise in numbers and volume, so the pair immediately went along with the others, and no sooner than they joined the group did they see the principal of their school, along with another person who seemed to be Balamb Garden's own headmaster, which also happened to be Mrs. Edea's husband, Cid Kramer.

"Good evening everyone, I gather that the dance has been most enjoyable so far?" Cid commented, and then a collective '_Yeah!_' was heard from the vast majority thereafter. "Well, after a few words with your principal, I hope that tonight will be even _more_ joyous for all of you students. Mr. Porpin, if you please…"

"Thank you Headmaster Kramer," After the formal thank you, the principal carried on, "Seeing the circumstances in which Balamb High is currently under structure-wise, there are some necessary repairs needed to be made, in order to meet the standard building codes required to keep the school opened."

"-However, since the repairs cannot wait for the two-month summer holidays and because of the lengthy renovation time due to the building's age, I am proud to announce that, starting Friday of next week, all of Balamb High's students will be transferred to Balamb Garden's facilities for the rest of the school year."

No sooner than the principal had concluded his speech that the students all roared with cheer and started clapping like madmen – and madwomen. Seeing as Squall and Rinoa were in the very back of the mass, Squall whispered something to Rinoa without much fear of anything.

"_I guess_…this was a very eventful birthday for you this year." He whispered in a low voice. She immediately grinned ear-to-ear after she heard what he'd just said.

"I'd hate to burst your bubble but…" She paused thoughtfully before breaking the news to him. "…you must have misunderstood me earlier because… my birthday isn't today, my birthday is Sunday."

Squall immediately did a double-take. "You're…joking _right?_"

"'Fraid not. _Hee…hee-_"

And with that, Rinoa started to head for the Quad entrance, giggling all the way there, and possibly more so after she'd left the view completely. All Squall managed to do as he watched her leave was try to compute on how he could have made such a big mix-up in the first place. However that all stopped abruptly - as soon as he felt somebody's presence behind him.

"Well, well, well… Isn't _that_ a picture worth a thousand words?"

Squall didn't need to turn around to figure who it was, since it was far too evident already.

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**End of Chapter Comments – **I'm sorry for the over two-week delay, but stuff kept on happening to me, basically some last minute projects and lab reports to hand in, tests and exams to write and the fact that my computer crashed on me and I had to retype most of it didn't help (Thank god I printed it out before it crashed!), but I'll try to be on time for the next chapter seeing as I'm finally on summer vacation now.

Anyways, I hope that you found that the chapter was worth the extra wait, and until I write another chapter, all I have to say is that any reviews, thoughts or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

-Emerald-Latias


	7. Chapter VII – Conversing

**Author's Notes - **It's truly hilarious how irony works, hehe… I mean, I've got massive amounts of time at my disposal to work on this fic, and yet, I haven't even been in the mood to write at all! It's almost like a conspiracy in my head because all I've been doing lately is editing Locked Inside for typos and stuff. Oh well, at least I'm writing now…

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**Chapter VII – Conversing **

Even with his back turned, Squall knew who the person was, he knew the smirk he had on, and he even knew the intention behind the taunting remark he'd shouted at him, but regardless of all that information he mentally had on hand; he still turned around to see his rival's face. It was simply one of those things which became automatic to him over the years, something almost second-nature to him now. Whenever Seifer taunts, Squall must turn to face him afterward - it was just that, nothing more, nothing less.

"Looks like I was right on the money after all this time, even before all of those rumours came up.. heh, go figure." Seifer scoffed jokingly, and although Squall had stuck around for this, he wasn't ready to stick around for much longer.

"…So, what's _your_ problem?" He replied coldly, stance quivering slightly.

"There's no problem," Seifer assured coolly, "…it's just that I find it funny. Because to me, it looks like you _don't _want people to know with that spectacle you pulled tonight …_Hell_, I've never seen someone bend over _so_ low in my life. So really… I should be asking **_you_** what **your** problem is. Is the whole idea overloading your head now?"

'…_No, it won't. -Not anymore._'

Instead of giving Seifer the satisfaction of saying another word in agitated response, Squall simply left towards the entrance silently. As he maneuvered past the shrunken crowds along the way, time seemingly slowed, because every person he passed, and every face he'd seen became permanently engraved to memory, as these were the faces which branded the same notion over and over into his increasingly-confounded mindset, and to Squall, the conclusion was –

**_-You can't hide this anymore._**

When Squall finally passed through the Quad doors after he'd painstakingly endured the long and arduous path it took to get there, he had somehow startled Mr. Kiren, who must have been taking a cat-nap at his post, because when he went through the doors, the math teacher yelped rather loudly and nearly kicked him unconsciously.

"-_Wha-huh…? _Oh… it's just you," He yawned tiredly, and then rubbed his one eye sleepily, "…Hyne, I really need to be more careful…Sorry about that. So, did you take the _'big' _news well?"

Squall refrained from rolling his eyes for the second time tonight. "Er…yeah."

"Good, then that makes two students so far, although your reply wasn't nearly as excited as Miss Heartilly's. She'd mentioned something about dragging a boyfriend around the Garden. It was obviously a joke of course, but I still feel sorry for whoever he is though."

Squall's position shifted rather uneasily. '…_This is awkward. It's a nice heads up, but still very, very awkward._'

"…Whatever." After he'd mumbled out that last word, he left.

He reached the outside in record time, and considering the pace of his walk, the night scenery greeted his tired blue eyes soon enough. The night sky had been painted a rather dark colour of indigo, the stars were sparkling in full vigor, and the moon shown brightly in its completely round, milky-white form. Squall inwardly smirked at this. Maybe, _just maybe,_ the full moon was the one responsible for the weird events that happened to him tonight – that alone would have explained a lot in his opinion. And finally… there was Rinoa, sitting daintily near a fence - the same fence which he'd waited for her a couple hours prior, and was now massaging her feet, with her high heels cast away ceremoniously. So, in turn, he noiselessly crept up behind her and then craned his head downwards.

"So… I hear that I'm going to be '_dragged_' around the Garden later." He intoned mysteriously behind her; she immediately turned her head in surprise.

"_Oh!_ It's only you Squall.." She gasped, and then a faint smile soon ensued. "So… where did you hear _that _one?"

"…The doorman."

"Oh, well I see you've got yourself a reliable source there. So… would you rather change that later to now?"

"No. …I don't feel like getting lost tonight."

"Aww, you're no fun." She chided playfully. "But… I suppose you do have a point there, being two-for-two for getting stuck inside schools wouldn't really be an accomplishment I'd like to brag about in the future. Besides, my feet kill right now and it's so bad that I'd like nothing more than to murder the sadist who designed these. Hyne, why do they make them so damn sparkly? …I can never resist sparkly shoes."

"…Why don't you get some _sensible _shoes and apply some glitter to them afterward if you're so adamant about it?"

"Hey… that's a great idea. I should really listen to you more often." She humorously replied. "…So, what brings you out here anyway?"

"I don't dance, remember?"

"Oh right, I forgot. Well, I'm out here because my father was going to pick me up, but… that was supposed to be twenty minutes ago and I think that I honestly missed him. He never sticks around for more than five, so… would it be possible to get a ride with you?"

"…It's no problem."

"Good, so when will your father be here?" Rinoa asked. Right after, Squall shook his head slightly.

"-He's not. I'm the one who's driving." He corrected.

"Oh, well that's a surprise. Does he even know you're here at least?"

"No. He doesn't usually question where I go at night… as long as I come home in one piece without totaling the car."

"I see. Well could you help me up? The heels have made me their slave and I can't get up by my free own will anymo._o_.._re-Ooof!_"

At that moment, Squall had not only helped her up quickly, but he was also carrying her in his arms as he walked towards his car in the nearby parking lot, heels and all.

"I've heard of damsels in distress getting swept off their feet in storybooks, but I never thought that anyone actually did this stuff anymore- not that I'm complaining… Hee, are you sure that you can carry me over there? I mean, I'm not exactly the lightest person in the world…"

Squall smirked momentarily from her modesty. '_Don't kid yourself Rinoa. I could probably carry you to Esthar if I had to._'

"Don't worry, I'm sure." He reassured.

"…_Okay_…" She replied dreamily, finally taking some enjoyment in the midst of her current position.

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"So, did you have any fun tonight?" Rinoa inquired as Squall started to backup from his parking spot.

He looked at her momentarily while he shifted gears. "…Do I have to be honest?"

Rinoa laughed. "Sure, I don't mind. You can say that it was the worst thing that's ever happened to you if you want."

"Well…to be honest, if it wasn't for the school's news about moving to the Garden, today might have been one of the most irritating things I've ever done in my life, but with the news, it's in the bottom…_three._"

"Good, good, that's all I needed to hear. So, what do you think will be the best thing about moving to the Garden? I hear that they've got a big training centre, real monsters and all." She commented; Squall waited a little while before responding though.

"I suppose that'd be it. Chances are that they'll block that off though."

"Aw, that'd suck. But on the other hand, I'm still excited to go; I love new experiences more than anything. Maybe they'll let some of the students live in the vacant dorms there."

"…_Not likely._" He added during a stop.

"Okay then… So, on a different subject, what do you think we should do on Sunday? I thought that we could maybe go back to that little ice cream place again, what do you say?"

"Doesn't matter." He said demurely, eyes still fixated on the road before him. Just as he was about to get into the left turning lane a little later, the silence was replaced with talk once again.

"Why are you going that way?" Rinoa asked quizzically. Squall blinked in slight confusion.

"Isn't this the way to your house… or did I miss a turn?" He replied confoundedly.

"No, you're on the right road; it's just that I forgot that I didn't bring my house keys tonight. My father has a strict rule about tardiness; he's got this whole thing where if I'm not on time, I have to find my own way home. -Not to mention he locks the doors past midnight. He says that it teaches responsibility, but I really don't see the point of it all."

"…Have you ever been late before?"

"Oh yeah, plenty of times, but I've always found a way to crash at a friend's house for the night." She explained candidly.

Then, Squall cut in bluntly. "-I don't think I'd be allowed to let you stay at my house."

"Rats. I knew you would say that, you're so predictable that it's not even funny."

"…Nice try, but that trick doesn't work twice." He countered smartly.

"_Double rats…_" She muttered under her breath. "Ooh, you're a smart cookie, being able to outsmart little old Rinny over here…"

The male teenager sighed as he stopped at an intersection. "…What are you trying to aim for here?"

"Nothing ever gets past you now does it?" She quipped mischievously. "Well… you can either A - continue the way you're going and help me break into my own house, or B - try to get permission so I can stay at your house, so what's your pick?"

Squall changed lanes and made a turn in the opposite direction. "Well… then I'm going to pick option C."

"Option_ C?_" Rinoa repeated in a mystified tone. "…_What's that?_ Are you going to force my father to let me in?"

"…No, you'll see." He answered cryptically.

At that moment, Rinoa hands had tugged at her seatbelt, making sure that it was completely secure, meanwhile Squall's hands were gripped firmly to the steering wheel as he held in his breath somewhat.

A minute or two later, Squall pulled into a vacant park's parking area, which also happened to be the same park where he'd scared the little girl with misdirected death threats in the past, and cut the engine immediately. When he'd unbuckled his seatbelt, he saw the look on Rinoa's bewildered face, but at the same time, inwardly sympathized with the sentiments behind her expression – even _he_ was surprised of what he planned on doing.

"Are we… taking a walk in the park, Squall?" Rinoa asked questionably, still eyeing him with a puzzled look.

"…No, we're staying inside the car." He answered bluntly, and then her expression deepened furthermore. At that point, after he'd leaned over to look in the backseats, Rinoa undid her own seatbelt.

"Okay…are we _doing_ something in here that I don't know about, or am I just…_err… imagining_ things?" She inquired rather awkwardly; Squall didn't say anything to respond to her question, he was busy trying to take something out from his pants' pocket.

After Squall had finally pulled the thing out from his left-hand pocket a second later, he simply directed a, _'-Here.' _to Rinoa and handed her a cell phone. As he'd done so, Squall instantly noted upon the look of comical relief on her face and the broad grin she had broken into. Why this was, he had no inkling, but all he knew was that she was the one who had no inkling herself on why he'd handed her the cell.

"So… am I ordering a pizza?" She joked light-heartedly; Squall didn't take to the joke however.

"…Obviously not. I gave you the phone so you can call your father." He paused momentarily to register her facial expression, and right now, it went back to confused- utterly, utterly confused. "…Maybe you can somehow get him to pick you up… or let you in at least."

"Okay…" She uncomfortably added. "…But before I do, I… um.. never gave you my cell number, did I?"

"…I don't think so."

"Well, can you show me how to add my number to your caller list? Your cell's setup is different than mine."

Squall nodded and obliged to show her how to add the number without hesitation, and soon after that was resolved, Rinoa had denounced that the phone wasn't getting any reception from inside the car mysteriously enough, so she went outside for a moment to make the call. A couple of minutes passed before she came back in.

"Well, it's all settled." She announced dramatically as soon as she re-entered the car.

"…So, you can get home?"

"No," She contested plainly, "…I'm allowed staying at yours."

Just then, all Squall could do was stay frozen in pure amazement.

'_I've got to start remembering that she doesn't take No's very easily. Hyne, I should have seen **that** one coming.._'

Afterwards, he gave her a tired look. "So… what kind of tale of deceit did you use this time? Nothing involving a sorceress attack I hope."

"Ha, ha, very funny Squall. No, I just said that my father was called out of town for an urgent work-related thing when he was supposed to give me a ride home from the dance. So after that, I told him that I called you to help bring me home, and you reluctantly agreed. But when we got to my house, I realized that I didn't bring my house keys …and that's it."

"That sounds…convincing enough." He commented fleetingly.

"So, are we going to your place then?"

"Fine, I'll take you to the house, but I hope you realize that you're treading a thin line between being comical and being manipulative right now." Squall stated straightforwardly, voicing his statement very dryly without any hint otherwise.

"Yeah I know, but… right now, things between my father and me haven't been so great lately, and I can't risk doing anything bad to mess it up even more. I just did it this way so that you wouldn't have to hear about all my problems going on at home. I know that… it can be really hard to hear about every little thing, and to feel dragged down by the problems because of it."

After Rinoa let out a therapeutic sigh, she continued once more. "Although… it was pretty thoughtless of me to do this, I sometimes I feel like…like.. I _have_ to be this cheerful and peppy girl 24/7, _regardless_ of what I'm going through at home or… how I'm feeling. I even think that _sometimes_, people _expect_ me to be that way all the time, you know? …And to be honest, I thought that I would have scared you if I would have gone into super-serious mode so suddenly."

"…I understand." Squall replied solemnly. "But… don't force yourself to do things differently just so you don't risk troubling me. I can handle certain things; just don't… bombard me in it _too_ much"

Rinoa reddened. "I… don't know what to say …but…-_um…_thank you, I think…You …_uh,_ do know what you just said, _right?_"

"…I meant every word of it." He asserted truthfully without hesitation.

"_Wow… Change certainly does happen in the most unexpected places and times…_" Rinoa mumbled near silently to herself, but unbeknownst to her, Squall's hearing was rather acute; hence, he caught every whispered syllable not meant for his ears. During the time he faced the other way and reached over to re-buckle his seatbelt, he smirked briefly.

"So…shouldn't you be trying to pester me about letting you sleep in my room by now?" He jested mockingly afterward.

The dress-clad girl quickly stifled a rather large giggle. "Ooh, cracking jokes now are we? …And I had foolishly thought that I'd never see the day you'd be doing that… But now you have to admit that you actually liked it. Fess up, arms don't wrap around other people's bodies for no reason you know."

"Sorry, but I cannot be held responsible for any actions in my sleep." He responded composedly as he started up the car once more.

"Smooth buddy, smooth. Okay then, answer me this. What am I going tomorrow then? Pretty dresses like these cannot worn two days straight, it's considered a fashion faux-pas, or fashion _misstep_ for those of us lacking the basics of the 'foreign' language." She joshed with some superficial hand movements tossed in to accentuate her exaggerated point. She'd even surpassed Squall's jeer in terms of boldness too.

"..Keep it up and you'll be wearing garbage bags." He added dismissively.

"Okay, okay, I take it back… So I guess it'll be some old clothes of yours?"

"Probably…"

"Ooh… so that means I can look like your _twin!_" She giggled.

Squall muttered a, "_Hyne, just shoot me now…_" under his breath as he turned the car unto the road again.

"Hey! I heard that you… _meanie!_"

"…So what are you going to do about it, _then?_" He challenged her with a daring look.

"I'll… _um_…make myself look so much like you that even your father will have trouble telling _who's_ who!"

"Well… I don't think he'll have much trouble considering that I don't wear high heels, have black hair, brown eyes or have a -_nevermind_…"

"Okay, okay, you win. Geeze, sometimes you take things too seriously you know, I was only joking. But… what if we were wearing hoodies, with the hoods up… in the dark?"

Squall grumbled. "Rinoa… do I _have_ to point out that I'm taller?"

"Yeah but in the dark, no one will know that I'm wearing heels." She reasoned.

"I give up…"

Rinoa clasped her hands together in triumph. "Heh, I guess I win this time!"

"Remind me never to argue with you…" Squall concluded vocally before paying full attention to the road ahead of him.

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After their fifteen minute car ride had eventually lead them to the Loire-Leonhart household, both teenagers had gotten out from their respective seats and headed towards the door as fast as their feet would allow them. Staying outside for long wouldn't have been a wise choice since the dipping temperatures weren't suitable for prolonged stays outdoors at all.

Then, Squall calmly unlocked the front door, and lead Rinoa and himself both into the inside, and into the warmer climate that the house's heating system provided. A look of relief immediately spilled over the two adolescents' faces, well, more evidently on Rinoa's than the other teen's, Squall simply looked tired, even more so than usual.

"It's about… 12:21, according to my watch, want to call it a night?" Rinoa casually mentioned as soon as she set aside her heels and once he had shut and locked the door completely.

"…Sure." He mechanically replied, but then he made the contradicting mental quip of, _'Sure, we can call it a night.. but that doesn't mean we'll all fall asleep though.'_

"Good… I'll just go in your guest room then to look in the same drawer in the room as last time to get the old gym clothes."

Rinoa ascended two steps before Squall caught up to her and halted her stair-climbing progress with the extension of a single arm.

She smiled faintly. "Oh, starting this again I see. Any alarms I should know about?"

"No. It's just that the clothes aren't in the _room-"_

"_-and_ they're in yours? Okay, I'll follow you then." Squall nodded and swiftly took the lead up the stairs as Rinoa had given up her pole position and now tailed him. In a matter of ten seconds, they were already up the complete set of steps and had traveled into his room.

Upon entry, Squall made a beeline to his dresser and then sifted through the bottom drawer; where he'd kept all of his outgrown and unused shirts, shorts and pants. Crouching down, he instantly felt a second pair of hands go beside him, trying to achieve the same thing as he was, which was namely to find the said pair of gym attire.

"I can do this myself…" He mouthed to the 'helper' beside him.

"Too late, I already found some." Rinoa chimed a moment later, and held out the two pieces of clothing in her hands.

He turned his head sharply to look. "Like hell you're wearing my old track uniform. It's so small you'd have better chances with a pillow case."

"Well then, I'll just have to prove you wrong." She wagered confidently, but just as she'd given him an equal stare back for a second, something caught her eye and she recoiled immediately and rapidly got up from her kneeling stance.

"Squall…are you…_um.._ feeling _okay?_" She managed to stumble out. Squall stood up to match her standing position.

"Yes. …Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's _nothing_ really, I should just take the clothes, go change in the bathroom and come right back. _I'll go now,_ '_kay?_"

Before he could sat another word to her as she scurried out of the room, Squall quickly put on his own pyjamas, turned off the light and then afterwards, as he rested his body peacefully on top of his bed with the covers underneath him, he looked intently at the ceiling facing his vision.

'_-What was **that** about? Well whatever is was, it doesn't matter, so stop thinking about it, or else you'll make your brain implode.'_

'_Wait a minute… Where's my father? Shouldn't he have harassed us at the door or something?'_

'_-Don't question good luck like that, or else you'll jinx yourself!'_

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Fifty minutes later, there was a light rapping at Squall's door, so the aforementioned room's occupant rolled over restlessly to grab a spare comforter pillow, ready to use it as ammunition if the intruder decided to get brave and enter his room. There was no way that it could have been Rinoa, since he guessed that she changed her mind and simply went to sleep in the guest room, and was probably already asleep judging by her tiredness earlier, therefore the only possible suspect was Laguna.

Another series of knocks ensued, and judging by the frequency, the person had gotten rather impatient, but still, Squall was determined to ignore it. It was bad enough that he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon, and a supplementary visitor wouldn't help any either… unless if they had sleeping pills or something else of that nature.

Right then, the interloper opened the door.

'_Woosh!_'

"**-_Hey!_** Is this how you treat everyone who opens your door? I would have expected a '_Get the hell out!_' or something like that…not a pillow." The female trespasser whined after she'd closed door swiftly to avoid getting hit by the flung pillow.

'_So much for my deducting skills…_' Squall thought lamely.

"Sorry," He confessed, "I honestly thought you were my father."

"Yeah… I really don't think your father would be wearing something like _this._" At that point, when Rinoa walked into his room in a cumbersome manner, Squall had to suppress the uncontrollable urge to violently fall off from his bed; so instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head fervently in mock-shame.

Even the light-hearted scowl now present on her face couldn't manage to vie for his attention for the simple reason that the clothes looked hilariously small on her, despite her tiny frame. The black shorts appeared like incredibly cinched and confining short-shorts, and the equally-somber shirt looked like a midriff top, but to make matters worse, Rinoa's shoulders appeared to be painfully pinned to her torso, allowing such little movement that when she walked, rusty robots seemed to have more flow with their arm movements. Now, Squall had to look away completely for fear that if he'd looked anymore, the sarcastic comments he'd spew out would never end until the morning – maybe even longer.

"…Something tells me that _'I told you so' _wouldn't exactly cut it in this situation." Oops, too late, he'd already lost all self-control. Hyne help us all.

Rinoa sighed. "Yeah… this is **_exactly_** why I wanted to wait 'til you were asleep Squall. When I went to go change, it took me nearly _ten_ minutes to get these darn clothes on so that I could prove you wrong, but when it fit so horribly, I realized that I couldn't show my face back here, so I went to go sleep in the spare room, but I… couldn't exactly…_fall_ _asleep_ in this get-up, if you know what I mean."

"Hm. …So I assume that you want the other pair then."

"Yeah…That's pretty much it." As if on command, Squall got off his bed and immediately went towards the dresser's bottom drawer, but as soon as he was down there, he felt her footsteps near him.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised that you're still up." She demurely said behind him.

"Well I'm not." He shot back as he still searched for the elusive articles of clothing.

"I suppose that'd explain the dark circles under your eyes, does that usually happen faster for you?"

He'd struck gold and found the set, and turned around to give it to her. However, she stood silently after she'd uneasily bent over to accept them, with her eyes creased into an expression of…_wondering_ if he wasn't mistaken, or if the bright moonlight which shined through the singular window hadn't duped his eyesight.

"_So…_ does it happen to you a lot?" _Damn,_ he was right for a change today.

'…_What do I say?'_

"I don't know." He said meekly, avoiding her stare with his tainted eyes. A second later, he got up, yet, she still had the same look in her eyes, although it appeared to be flecked with a more worried emotion this time around. Now seemed like a perfect time to turn around and use his foot to close the opened drawer, but it was only a brief salvage.

"Shouldn't you be changing in the bathroom or something?" He commented.

Rinoa's face went slightly red. "Oh right. Sorry, it's just that I was thinking of something, I'll go do that now."

Right before she left the room though, she spun back to face him for one more time.

"Do you… have trouble sleeping at night by any chance?" She asked in blatant curiosity.

"…Why would you want to know that?" He counter-questioned rather evasively.

"Well, because if you don't get those dark circles under your eyes very easily, then that'd explain it. Plus, I hate it when I have unanswered questions in my head; those always bug me to death."

Squall lowered his head slightly. "It's been… five days already."

"Five days…of not sleeping well?" She added uncertainly. He nodded back.

"How did you stay awake and attentive at school then? I would have crashed hard on day one."

He lightly smirked. "…You could say that I lived on caffeine."

"Oh. Well, I'll leave you to sleep now, sorry for disturbing you." But as she went through the door and closed it, Squall briskly walked over and nimbly opened it again.

"…Squall?"

"_Aren't-_You…weren't a nuisance." He affirmed awkwardly at the foot of his door.

Then, Rinoa lightly kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for letting me know that."

'_You're welcome._' The male teenager thought vacantly as he retreated to the depths of his room once more.

"So…do you still think you're a filthy-minded scoundrel?" She joshed with her hands playfully placed at her hips. His face froze into five different variations of the utterly bewildered expression before he settled for the '_Are-you-out-of-your-tree?_' look.

"Did I… _miss_ something here?" He obliviously asked as he abruptly came back.

"No, not if you use your head to figure out why I said that."

"Okay…I'm trying it…" He said rationally. "No luck…still answerless."

"Darn, I thought you were smarter that that." Squall scowled during her theatrical pause. "Well, for starters, I think that you wanted me to sleep in your room for the company, but stopped yourself from asking because you had no previous experience in these things so… you thought that it was wrong to even think about something like that, even when you weren't planning on doing anything adult. _Did…_ I get it right?"

Squall stood more frozen than a popsicle, so Rinoa smirked broadly in response.

"_Well_…I guess **that** speaks for itself. But you should know that it's normal, so don't worry about it." She concluded earnestly. "Well, I'll be back in ten, so don't go running off on me. I **_know _**where you live."

Squall almost chuckled at that last humorous remark after she went into the bathroom, but instead, he inwardly smirked in the dark recesses of his room - being liberated from confusion's heavy grip never felt so wonderful.

A few minutes later, when he was just putting away something back into his desk, Rinoa came sauntering back in much more appropriately fitting sleepwear, and had this manic smile on that Squall couldn't figure out for the life of him. He arched an eyebrow. Wasn't the point of her speech trying to reassure him that he wasn't a dirty, dirty teenager? So what was she smiling about then?

"Guess why I'm smiling." She enticed, almost as if she was reading his mind.

"You're smiling because… you're not gasping for air anymore?" He guessed sarcastically.

"Good guess but no." Her grin widened furthermore if possible. Squall gave no further guesses though.

She giggled. "It's because…_hee_…you're learning to act normal!"

He rolled his eyes. "_Really…? _I would have never guessed that having someone in my room was considered a _normal_ thing to do. Are there any other _normal_ habits I should know about while I'm learning about normalcy?"

"Well…since you asked, how about a nice hug? Hugs are vital to a healthy relationship you know."

"Point noted." He stated dully as he passed by her before he went to figuratively suffocate himself under the covers.

"Hey? What happened to your progress? You've just set yourself back …_one…two…-_two weeks!" She joked while she placed herself right beside him on the mattress.

His head poked out from under the covers.

"…Just because it's normal, doesn't mean I have to do it." He tersely mumbled to her lounging figure right before he retracted his head under again.

"Okay then, you asked for it then!" She exclaimed bravely. In an act of daring, Rinoa jumped over his side of the bed and forcefully whipped the covers off the bed. Before Squall had enough time to fully take in account of what just happened, Rinoa had already given him a big constricting hug. After that point, he got up from his previous resting position on the box spring and onto his feet, and faced her directly.

"…You've got some nerve." He stated flatly. Rinoa shifted her feet slightly.

She bit the inside of her lip. "…I thought-"

He shrugged. "Whatever…I'm going to sleep. …Goodnight."

"Okay…I'll just go on the other side then."

"…Mmph." He acknowledged lazily, head submerged face first into his pillow this time.

From what he could hear, there were shuffling footsteps for a moment and then some minor rustling on the other side as she got on the other side of the large mattress. As soon as all sounds of movement stopped when she'd ceased placing herself into a comfortable position, he shifted a little to get his face out of the pillow and went for the kill and hugged her back for a moment. During the first second though, he sensed her tense up so he immediately knew that he'd caught her off-guard.

"You're a real pain, you know that?" She commented light-heartedly to her edge of the bed.

"So I've been told."

"-Can I hold this against you this time?" She giggled.

"…_Go ahead._" He faintly replied.

In a few instants, Squall had already fallen into a quick and soothing sleep, and also, for the first time in days, he'd managed to go to sleep before four in the morning. And to him, it felt nice to not fight to go to sleep for a change.

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"Hey… wake up sleeping beautyyou missed the bus already."

'…_Bus? What the-' _

An eye fluttered open, then the other opened, and after Squall had bolted upwards, he suppressed a gasp of epic proportions and prayed that this was a crazy dream – _cross that,_ make it a crazy _nightmare_.

Unfortunately for him, it was all real and Laguna was really in his room.

'_Please, Hyne, don't let him see Rinoa or I'll never hear the end of it…Hell, I think he'd be- **No!** -No, don't even think about that!' _

Squall looked at his expression rapidly; nope, nothing to suggest that he'd seen something strange and suggestive, _unless… _

_**-Bingo!** _

Rinoa wasn't in the room at the moment. The previously-frantic teenager felt much more relieved-

_**-Or not.** _He just felt an arm under the bedspread as he put a hand beside him. Hyne, how could his father not see her body's outline from under the covers? -Not that he was complaining or anything…

"Today's _Sat-_" He bat away an errant hand of hers' that tried to poke through. "-Today's_ Saturday._"

"…_Really?_ I could have sworn that it was Tuesday for some reason… Sorry about that Squall. So did you get any sleep last night?"

"Yes…I did." He answered stiffly. At the moment, he had been more concerned on the fact that Rinoa had started to stir and was making noise from her movements. Time was running out fast and Squall knew that he needed a really good distraction even quicker.

"Okay… now that we've established that, can you leave so I can sleep?" He said irritably, and luckily for him, his father had fallen for the ruse and headed for the door.

'**_Thunk!_'**

Laguna turned his head in reaction and instantly had an extremely uncomfortable look on his face, with his hands clumsily placed at his sides.

"So…um…I suppose that this was why you slept so well last night…"

Squall wanted to die right then and there as his father awkwardly stood there at the doorway, and while Rinoa was rubbing her eyes on the floor beside the bed, totally unaware of the exceedingly horrible situation they were in_ -scratch that- _the exceedingly horrible situation _he _was in.

He sighed inwardly. It was times like these that Squall wished that he could have had a lock on his door and that people didn't have such dirty imaginations. But then again, he remembered being told that he wasn't _'normal'_ compared to most.

…_Oh well._

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**End of Chapter Comments – **I'm so sorry for the several weeks late once again, things have been rather hectic at my end with all of the babysitting I've done and the minor case of writer's block I had to deal with (and because I had to re-write the second half of the chapter because it really sucked), but anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and I'm happy to announce that big changes will happen next chapter because it's the-

**- _Rinoa-centric chapter! Yay!_**

So please review with anything you guys want to say (even if it's the stuff you think I don't want to hear)! Thanks!

-Emerald-Latias


	8. Chapter VIII – Eighteen’s Surprise

**Author's Notes – **Hehe… Judging by the type of responses that I got from reviews, I think that people liked the last chapter for its' light-hearted contents. Well, I hope that you'll like this chapter as much (maybe even more if I'm lucky) because it's finally the Rinoa-centric chapter!

**_-Everyone pretends to be happy- _**

_Yay!_

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**Chapter VIII – Eighteen's Surprise **

Falling out of bed was one thing, sure it hurt for a brief moment, but falling out of bed and realizing that your boyfriend's father was two steps away, with the completely wrong idea no less, was an entirely different matter altogether. Rinoa knew that it looked really bad from Mr. Loire's point of view, heck, if she was in his position and had seen a teenage girl fall out from her son's bed; she would have thought exactly the same thing.

Right after she'd grasped the situation, followed by her first few foggy moments of consciousness, her mind went aflame with thoughts constantly flickering on and off through her head, mainly along the lines of, _'Hyne, what should I say to clear our names?' _and the occasional, _'Squall must be downright mortified right now…'_ during a period of eight seconds.

When she briefly stole an upwards glance, she immediately noticed that Squall was stock-still …or was quite possibly frozen over completely. Regardless, he didn't look as if he was going to say something to clear up the situation soon, since he sported a generally defeated look alongside a severely clenched jaw. In Rinoa's head, the possibility of a single word escaping from his lips was just about as likely as him prancing around the school in a highlighter-yellow jumpsuit, spreading around pink flowers and joyously singing mushy love ballads off-key. Figuring that she was mostly to blame for the whole predicament, Rinoa took a deep breath and readily steeled herself for the worst.

"Look, _um…_ Mr. Loire, I know that… this probably looks really, _really_ bad from where you're standing…but…"

She started to tremble a little and tried getting up as calmly as she could muster. Rinoa found it incredibly difficult to look him in the eye, but felt it necessary to make sure that he knew that what she was being genuine in her words. In the midst of this, she knew that the truth would make her strong; the truth would help her make it through the ordeal.

"…_Bu_t," Rinoa hesitated for a small, tiring second. "…you should know that we didn't do anything. I…only came in here because I thought that Squall needed a little company, and _I'm_…I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

After she had finished, she lowered her gaze to the point where she was now looking at her feet rather uncomfortably, waiting for the response that would make or break her entire confessional apology. During this period of time however, Rinoa didn't dare to risk looking at Squall at all, and simply stood still and awaited judgement. Then, she looked up.

A confused look had seemingly spread across Laguna's face. "_-_Oh… now I **_kinda_** get the picture- err no…understand what you're saying, but uh… then… either way, there's still one question left to still figure out."

She bit her bottom lip nervously. "_Um_…what… _is_ it?"

"Well, I'm sort of wondering why Squall hasn't said anything himself." As if on cue, Squall came out from his reverie at the mention of his name and turned his head towards him. "You look as if you've been already been sentenced to jail."

Squall let out a minor sigh. "…What would have been the point of talking if you already had a preconceived idea in your head? Denying it wouldn't have changed anything."

"You make it seem like I don't have ears Squall."

After that, Rinoa faintly heard something from Squall that sounded an awful lot like, _'No, you just don't **use** them…'_. She stifled a small snicker in the otherwise serious moment.

"Well maybe I'll just_ uh…_ you know…maybe…_err…_ do that _thing_ where… I, _yuh -err- _y_ou k-_know, leave. Yeah…_Goodbye!_"

Being as good as his word, Laguna left not moment later with a casual wave of his hand and a casual trip out the door with a resounding _'thunk'._ Once he was gone completely; Rinoa sat herself on the edge of the bed while Squall slumped his body on the mattress, and simply let his hands freely cover his face. Both let out their collective breaths.

The room stayed silent for the first few minutes, as the sitting girl didn't dare making any additional noise to possibly aggravate things more. A moment later, she took the time and turned her head and glanced in his direction but nothing changed, his face was still covered in his hands, so she swiveled her head back again.

Rinoa cursed inwardly towards herself. Why was it that whenever Squall made some kind of progress that something bad would happen and he'd always get the worse possible situation shoved right in front of him? Given the little track record that they had together, Rinoa felt bad that he couldn't have had a little more happiness from their relationship so far. She knew that he deserved it; Hyne **_certainly_** knew that he deserved it but… why was it that everything thing she did blew up in her face? Why did his first taste of everything in the relationship world always have to become _so…_ tainted?

The questions constantly swirled around her head, but none of them had ever gone away and had dissipated into mind-pleasing oblivion. Soon enough, the thoughts she'd been enveloped in had left her in a somewhat stagnant stupor, rendering her immobile and indifferent to the world outside the corridors of her mind.

That _was_ the case, until some shuffling behind her fervently knocked her back in reality once more, after a good… five minutes. Her head twisted to find Squall now sitting on the edge of the bed, only a few lengths away from her. She smiled in return.

'_It's ironic that we're in the opposite roles right now, whereas he's trying to get** me** out of a thinking coma instead of the normal other way around. Hee…Maybe it's just that his quirks are rubbing off on me.'_

Her eyes shyly shifted back to her dangled over feet. "I guess… we won't be doing something like this anytime soon anymore, _huh?_"

After she'd said that, out of the corner of her left eye, she saw his face calmly turn towards her and go back to its original position, staring his own feet and oddly enough, he grabbed a pillow.

She arched an eyebrow. "Squall…why do you have that in your hands?"

"To muffle what I'm going to say next." He replied so seriously that it came out almost funny. The next thing Rinoa knew, she was hearing a whole bunch of muffled curse words that she'd never known he even _knew_ how to say, even though they sounded an awful lot like, "_Mmph, mmh muh, **mmp!** Mffupid! Mufph! Mmphole! Ffh! Mffft! **Ffuph!**_"

"-Feel any better?"

He finally stopped cursing to mumble a, "…Mmph."

Rinoa suppressed a giggle. "Good, I'm glad to hear that you're feeling '_Mmph'._"

After a second or two, he lifted his head from the pillow, looking rather red.

"_Okay… _So, _um… _What do you …uh…think we'll have for breakfast?"

Squall gave her a particular look, but it faded rather quickly when she'd given him an even weirder stare back at him.

"…_What?_" He mouthed rather irritably. She broke out of her strange glare and giggled.

"Nothing. Just making fun of you."

This earned her another _look_ right before he got off the edge and started moving towards the dresser. While he was there, he sifted through a couple of the drawers, shifting back and forth from picking and putting various articles of clothing back at random.

All of a sudden, Rinoa's vision went all dark and fuzzy as something caught her sight almost instantaneously. Also, given that she'd never seen such a peculiar view, it became very uncomfortable, and caused her face to heat up pretty fast.

"_Mmph… **Sq-uall!**_ You didn't have to throw that shirt to my face! And getting hit with those pants wasn't fun either!" She whined with a slight comical undertone. Then, Squall turned around rather brazenly with some more clothes in hand, obviously still clad in his own pyjama pants and tee shirt set.

"…So do I have to apologize for having aim then?" He quipped back sarcastically.

"No, but warn me the next time you're tossing stuff at my face, okay?"

"Whatever… I'm going to change."

As the click of the door resonated firmly after he'd left the room, Rinoa let out a small chuckle and whimsically wiped away a stray hair aside from her face, and took a silent moment to fully appreciate the relationship that she _did_ have with him. The notion brought a bright smile to her face, and then she looked downward to see the clothes in her hands.

There, resting in her lap; lied a black shirt and a pair of equally-somber jeans.

Her smile turned into an ironic one.

'_Figures…_'

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After quickly changing into the all-black ensemble of clothing that Squall had given her, more like thrown at her, she took a small glance at her watch, and to her amazement, it read 9:06 am. In junction with all of the morning's stress, it seemed like it had been hours that passed for Rinoa, not minutes. But there were some definite benefits from overshooting with a guess though; it made her appreciate the extra time all the more.

So with that _'extra'_ time she had, she calmly walked out of the room and strolled her way towards the bathroom door to check if she'd left her dress in there. For some reason, she couldn't remember if she'd left it there or in the guest room. But as her hand latched onto the cold brass of the doorknob, ready to twist it, she changed her mind and gravitated in the direction of the guest room, assuming that Squall was in the bathroom after she'd heard an indistinct noise coming from the other side of the door. Besides, now that she really gave it a good second thought, Rinoa recalled that she'd actually left her dress in the vacant room anyway.

Following the creak of the opening door, she entered the room without as much as a sound, and spotted the indigo dress carefully placed on the bed, and without so much as a second glance past the foot of the door. Almost mechanically, she flicked the room's lights on and went on forwards to collect the garment. But as soon as she had it in her arms and turned around, she gasped loudly and nearly dropped it in shock.

"Hyne, I've got to stop _scaring_ myself so much…" She wheezed in front of him. "You should really be a ninja Squall; you'd be really good at it."

Regardless of her last remark, his face stayed indifferent other than shifting his sight from her face to the dress in hand and back to her face once more. Rinoa guessed that he was figuring why she in there in the first place. His face was wiped of emotion completely by then, looking oddly void and blank – even compared to his usual range of expression.

"Your father called, he… wants you home" He said flatly.

At that point, Rinoa never realized how grey Squall's eyes could get when he spoke so seriously and solemnly like that, as opposed to their normal blue-grey coloring. Also, when she'd shifted her eyes to look past him, she noted upon the fact that the large mirror in the far left-hand corner had some pretty intricate detailing along the edges, and from what she could discern, it seemed like some kind of ancient scripture running around the framing, almost-

"**-_Rinoa? _**Will you stop that and _answer_ me."

What? When was she being questioned? She didn't remember there being a question to be answered, just like she'd never noticed how he always had that pendant on, that…metal lion-cross type necklace thing. **_Uh oh._** Now he was scowling. –Not a good sign, right? _'Yeah, definitely…'_ She mentally answered to herself Rinoa guessed that letting her mind wander to avoid the subject wasn't such a good solution after all.

"How… did he get the phone number?"

He shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe my father gave it to him when he called the first time you were here."

"Okay… _but_…uh…_Wait a sec!_ How did he know that I was here?" Her face went colorless in realization, and furthered into panic. "Do you think he knows? Oh Hyne, if he does, you'll never hear the end of it Squall! Ooh… this is_ bad, bad…_ **_bad!_**"

"Calm down. Over-stressing yourself won't help you any." He stated in a slow and controlled manner, which was the complete contrast of her approach to things at the moment, and even reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to quell her nervous fidgeting. Her face went slightly red with embarrassment, but she managed to look up at him with a ghost of smile.

"Okay, I'll try to be calm…Okay…" She asserted to herself. Squall brushed away his hand then. "So, when was this exactly?"

"A few minutes ago."

"…Hm. Did he want me home _now_ or was this a general 'come home'?"

"I assume that he wants you home soon, he said that it was urgent over the phone."

"Oh." Feeling a little crestfallen, Rinoa lost the last remnant of the small smile she had on her face. "Okay, then. Am I… being picked up or dropped off?"

"Whichever. He told me that if you needed a ride, you could call him back."

"I see…decisions, decisions, hm…" She said in a mock-contemplative tone, with additional clichéd taps of her index finger on her lips. "There's my father who's making an ultimatum for me to come home for god-knows-what, there's _your_ father who's most likely still feeling awkward about the whole _'I-fell-out-of-your-bed'_ thing this morning, and lastly there's you, which my father would be liable to have a field day with, given that he probably knows about us-"

"-That's not a given fact." He cut in. "He might have been lucky with that call."

"Still…I don't want to risk it. If he sees a small sign of anything, he'll jump to the biggest conclusion and I **_mean_** it. Last year, he chewed me out just for having a guy over to tutor me in science and he _knew _that I was having trouble in that class to top it off!"

"Rinoa, it's not like I'm going inside your house or anything."

"I…" Just as she was ready to further her argument, a moment passed and her face softened once more. "-You're right Squall. I was overreacting a bit, and… maybe if he asks about why you brought me home, one of us could say that your father was busy with some work or something like that. Would that work?"

"…That could work."

"Okay, then it's settled I guess…" She finalized with a meager smile.

"So… are you ready to go then?"

Her eyes widened and her grin disappeared. "…Now?"

"The sooner we leave the better." He responded succinctly. "If you're hell-bent on masking this then the logical solution is to leave early as possible. It would show that there's no reason to stick around, so your father wouldn't have a reason to make any assumptions."

"Wow, aren't you a box full of ideas? I must have really known what I talking about when I thought that you'd make a great ninja." She humourously added. He finally gave her a look this time around for the ninja suggestion.

"Hehe… Well, if we're going to follow your plan, then we should get going! Is breakfast an option though?"

Squall rolled his eyes, turned around and started walking out of the room to most likely go downstairs. Rinoa quickly grabbed her dress again, followed suit and easily caught up with him.

"Okay, I'll take that as a _'yes'_ then."

He still didn't respond, and then something caught her attention after he'd completely descended the stairs and she'd been on the last step.

"_Heey…_You're wearing practically the same thing I am, we can be _twins!_" She exclaimed childishly. Squall stopped and turned around.

He immediately did a double take after he looked back at what she was wearing, and then looked down at what he was wearing. She was right; they did match eerily, especially since standing on the stairs elevated her exactly to his height.

"Ah… screw it. I'm not even commenting on that one."

As she'd hopped off the last step to follow behind him again, her face went into a broad, undeniable smirk and Squall was none the wiser.

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The ride to her house was rather uneventful, it had been a simple straightforward drive filled with little talk and plenty of silence to go around. The driveway now loomed into sight and Rinoa's stomach wasn't feeling the greatest at the moment, whether it was the cereal or the nerves that was causing the aches, she wasn't really sure anymore. Then, when Squall had eventually stopped at her driveway, her stomach lurched furthermore at the picture pasted in front of her. Not one, but two people were in standing near the doorway, and now she **_really_** felt sick.

After a moment or two, it was apparent that he had noticed her lack of movement, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the perplexed expression on his face while she remained stiff as a board. At that point, all Rinoa wanted to do was cry and get away from the house.

Finally, words came out from his mouth.

"Are… you okay?" Her sad, blanched face didn't respond.

'_No, no I'm not…The General tricked me… He.. **tricked** me! How …d-dare he.._'

"Fine. I'm…_just_ fine. Thank you for the ride home." She stammered out in a voice not like her own.

Then she promptly left, and closed the door with a little more force than necessary. As she passed by the car's front end, she momentarily looked through the windshield and noticed a small gleam of a lingering emotion present in his eyes. A fraction of a second later and it was gone. Then he turned his back get ready to reverse out of the driveway. Rinoa cringed. Not only did she cringe for what she'd have to face at the door, but at the fact that it was so obvious that he saw through her. Why else would he have looked like that?

Oh, that's right, she forgot. It's always the quiet ones who were the most perceptive.

As she rounded the garage, she was immediately squeezed into a wind-pipe crushing hug, courtesy of Sylvia, her father's latest way to torture her. Well… he obviously he didn't know that of course. Finally, she let go and stopped constricting the life out of her, so she took in a sharp intake of air and sputtered a little. At this point, her father went inside the house.

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_ Rinoa; I didn't mean to hug you so hard! It's just that I haven't seen much of you in _such_ a long time!" She apologized sweetly. Rinoa didn't exactly care though, it sounded overly phony to her.

"…It's no problem." She gritted through her teeth, barely managing to make it sound polite.

Sylvia smiled obliviously. "Well then, we should go inside before coming down with a cold! Come now, Rinoa."

"-_Excuse me._" Rinoa's head buzzed for a second, why was she hearing Squall's voice?

Then turned around and saw his figure mere inches behind her, with the bag with her dress in hand. He extended his hand and gave it to her. A small, but noticeable blush spread across her face.

"…You forgot it in the car." He added tersely. Though this didn't help her redness any.

A fraction of a second later, father came back out from inside the house.

"Sylvia, Rinoa could you please-" As soon as he caught sight of him, her father switched his regard. "…I presume you're Mr. Loire's son?"

Rinoa tensed. '_Oh no…this won't be good._'

Squall shifted slightly but maintained eye contact. "Yes, I am."

"Hm. Just as I thought." He took a leisurely pause to take a step closer. "So why was it that my daughter was at your home? I don't recall giving her permission to spend the night at any teenage boy's house."

The female adolescent's eyes widened immediately. Of all of the things she thought her father would say, she would have never guessed that he'd go on the offensive right away like that, especially with what he'd said a couple of days ago regarding his opinion of him. Even with the boys he downright hated, he always edged the comment in after a minimum of a few polite phrases. But then again, her father could be one of the biggest hypocrites at times. Coming back into reality once again, Rinoa fiercely hoped that he could handle this deftly without pushing _anymore_ of her father's buttons.

As she glanced past him and over at Squall's expression, she saw a hint of irritation present in his eyes and a slight arch of the eyebrows, but other than that, his facial expression stayed predominantly neutral. And for that she had a twinge of hope.

"…Look, I understand that this wasn't one of the most ideal situations to be in but, if I hadn't let her stay, given the odds, she would have been stuck at the Garden all alone."

Rinoa's stomach plummeted past her knees. Right now, the words _'Hyne, I'm screwed!_' were a big understatement.

"Listen here young man; I'm sure that one of my daughter's friends attending the dance would have arranged for her to sleep in their houses. Rinoa has never had a problem doing that in the past and I am certain she wouldn't have had any problems in doing so last night."

"Um…If I may add something," The _'said daughter'_ bravely squeaked in, "…none of my friends could have given me a ride this time. I asked early on and they both said that they had plans early morning so I couldn't sleep over."

Her father switched his attentions again. "Well if you knew that then why didn't you come when we agreed?"

"Because the principal was in the middle of a really important announcement regarding the school, he was saying that they were moving the classes to Balamb Garden because the school needed a lot of repairs soon."

"…Very well." He conceded rather stiffly and walked into the house again.

Sylvia approached the door herself and turned her head towards Rinoa. "I think your father would like you inside the house Rinoa."

"Yeah, I'll be inside in a second." Sylvia nodded and entered through; leaving the door opened a crack.

Afterwards, her eyes welled up instantly. "I'm so sorry Squall."

"It's… okay."

"Okay…" She sniffled. "I'll try to be okay, but I'd… better go now."

Squall gave a slight nod and walked away, presumably to his car. The standing girl gathered all of her strength to stop sniveling and to brace herself for what could be awaiting her on the other side. She took in one large breath and went in.

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As Rinoa walked into the house and closed the door, another alarm was set off in her head after she thought back to the initial situation. Since when did Sylvia coming over count as an _urgent_ reason to come home? Or had everything been a complete trick to get her home quickly? She immediately gulped. None of this could mean any good. She immediately wished that she had some kind of excuse to leave. But with the previous catastrophe, that chance was close to nil.

"Uh…Can you excuse me? I _uh-_" She fumbled to the two adults still in the entrance area, and then looked at her feet and strangely enough, found inspiration to continue. "-I'll be back, I just have to go upstairs and… change into some…clothes- _more comfortable_ clothes and…_um_ socks, _yeah._"

Before either of them could say another word, she darted up the stairs and into her room barefoot, with her dress's bag carefully tucked in arm. Once inside her room, she plopped down onto her bedspread. Right now she had a good… five to seven minutes before she'd have to show her face back down there, but at the moment, all that she was preoccupied with was catching her breath again.

After that was achieved in a matter of two minutes, Rinoa carefully slinked off the bed and went to change like she'd said she was going to do. Picking out something from her closet didn't take long, nor did putting it on. Carefully folding the loaned set she'd been wearing until now, she placed it on the bed and smirked knowing that the clothes could be her possible excuse to see him tomorrow. -Or maybe even today if she was _extremely_ lucky.

But now wasn't the time to think of that anymore, as she was in dire need of an escape and that reality finally had sunk in after a couple minutes of mental diversion. She over at looked at the balcony. -Too high up?_ Probably._ Then she scarcely mulled over the idea of faking a quick, conveniently-unknown illness, since she wasn't too far off from actually feeling vaguely sick at the moment. _Naah,_ they'd still make her do whatever it was that they were scheming while she'd been away. Rinoa bounded onto her bed again. Maybe they'll just forget about her if she stayed up there.

"-_Rinoa!_ Can you come down _please?_" A voice _insistently_ insisted from the other side of her door. Rinoa plunged her head into the pillow.

'_Aw crap…'_

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After sitting down at the special dining room table for lunch, Rinoa detected that the fine dinnerware, silverware and crystal glasses were other subtle indications to add in her mental book of uneasy thoughts - especially it was combined with stew and homemade bread that her father usually had only for special occasions. Normally in the Heartilly-Caraway household, lunch consisted of whatever was in the fridge with little or no effort implied what so ever. The stab at making lunch fancy had really started to buzz around her head. What news were they going to possibly going to try and break to her? The possibilities were roaming around freely in her grey matter. Most of them were the result of a too-vivid imagination though.

'_Maybe they're going to say, "Sorry Rinoa, but you were right all along, Sylvia's a product of bio-engineering and she's technically your mother's clone."' _

'_Or maybe… "Sorry Rinoa, but we're kicking you out for lack of convenience and we'll be replacing you with a more affectionate puppy named Angelo. See you during summer holidays!"'_

'_Even worse it could be, "Sorry Rinoa, but we're kicking you out to make a room for our spawn coming late this year and for the puppy we'll be getting next week. See you at the baby shower!"'_

Rinoa fervently shuttered at that last thought. _Ew._

"Would you like some stew?" Her mother's clone had inquired, although she didn't wait for an answer. "_-T..there_ you go."

The teenage girl grimaced skeptically from her actions, but still dipped her spoon in and tasted a mouthful anyway. Although a little hot, the flavour was nice, and wait… this was her favorite kind! _Oh dear…_ There went another sign pointing to a big conspiracy. Now she was sure that pretty soon, one of them would deliver ground breaking news, and it would most likely be bad news. The tension thickened. She sipped some more of her stew.

The meal continued in a rather quiet fashion and Rinoa wanted to keep it that way, though that desire kept her a little tense. Time seemingly slowed and she started to calculate intervals of when she'd take a bit of stew, a bite of bread and even a sip of water to fill the void and have something vaguely entertaining to do. Soon, she could hear the clock ticking time away in the background; almost mocking her. She decided that it was time to have another bite of bread. Bite. Bite. Chew. Chew. Scan. Scan again. _Phew,_ still safe.

"Rinoa…" Her father obviously directed to her.

She put down the utensil now in hand and slightly raised her head towards her father.

"Could you…"

She held in her breath.

"…pass the butter knife to me? Thank you."

A welcoming rush of security flowed through Rinoa as she passed the knife to her father. Maybe, just maybe, all her fears were groundless judging by the lack of suspicious conversation. If only Sylvia wasn't facing her on the other side of the table, she would have felt completely at ease by now.

"So Rinoa…" The aforementioned woman trailed off, Rinoa inwardly gulped. "Where do you know that boy from?"

Phew, it was just another false alarm. Well, it was a rather _tactless_ false alarm, but a false alarm none the less.

"School."

"Oh, okay."

Rinoa refrained from rolling her eyes from her question. _'Of all the times she decides to spark a conversation…not even an appropriate one either. What ever happened to generic questions like, 'How was the dance?' -Hyne I just know something bad is going to happen now…Rinoa, you'd better keep your answers short and sweet.'_

The mother-clone spoke again. "So how did the dance go Rinoa? Did it have any fun activities?"

'_God, why do I have to be so good at predicting things?_'

"It was uh…good. They had stuff like…_um,_ dance competitions, musical chairs and an insurance thing."

Finally, her father made his way into the conversation. "-_Insurance? _What, are they now targeting teenagers in this day and age? It's pure non-sense."

Rinoa secretly wanted to bite her own tongue after his response, and cursed that downplaying things or flat-out omitting them wasn't exactly her forte. After that, she took in a short breath and scarcely hoped that summarizing things in a coherent way happened to be a hidden strong point of hers'.

"No, it's not the regular kind of insurance, what I was referring to was a game where you paid 'insurance' so that later on, if you were called up to win a prize, you wouldn't have to do some ridiculous dance."

"Oh, I see what you mean by." Sylvia declared, and shortly, she turned towards Rinoa's father. "It's like the goldfish insurance they had at that one wedding we went to in January, _do you remember dear?_"

The general gave a slight _'Hm.'_ and a nod in response. -Finally, he understood! Praise Hyne, Rinoa could now escape the harrowing subject! Hooray!

Sylvia turned back to her. "So were you the lucky one to go up without any 'insurance'?"

Damn, the use of exaggerated bunny-ear quotation gestures came back to haunt her… in under a minute, and not-so-surprisingly, this time, the teen actually bit her tongue and …**_ow_** had it ever hurt. Seriously, it was bleeding even. Joking aside though, Rinoa didn't know what to say. If she told the truth, it would obviously lead up to some embarrassing follow-up questions. If she didn't…well she'd better have a good lie, or if she said _nothing_, well then… she'd better have an _even_ better excuse.

So, after a hasty decision, Rinoa left the table and mumbled something about having to go to the bathroom to make sure her tongue wasn't _'bleeding to death'_. Using that excuse to the fullest, she darted to the ground-level bathroom near the end of the right side corridor from the dinning room door to her right.

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Once inside the bathroom, she flicked on the lights and stuck out her tongue to the mirror for analysis. After the charade was done and she saw that the bleeding was minor and had already subsided, Rinoa went and sat on the closed toilet seat, hands on her knees, head processing what just happened. It was all a big question mark in there right now.

"What's… _wrong_ with me?"

'_You're talking to yourself and answering, that's what's wrong.'_ Her head rationalized.

The other part of her mind scoffed. _'Ha. Ha. Very funny.'_

She sat there for a little while in solitude, mulling it over seriously, and then an idea popped into her head. A rather confused and complex thought, but one none the less.

'_Maybe this is just too hard to go get used to. …Hmm, maybe._'

'**_-Knock! Knock!'_**

"…_Yes?_" She called out.

Her father's timbre came out from the other side. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Well… could you please come out then, Sylvia and I need to talk to you about something."

Rinoa felt like there was massive lump stuck in her throat afterwards, trapped in a moment she thought she was safe from.

The door was opened; she took calm even strides despite her apprehension, masking her inner turmoil. _-What was she going to be told?_ She followed her father while ignoring her secret desire to run far away from here, but at the same time she knew that running away wouldn't solve anything, as it would only be a temporary fix, only a temporary blip of sanctuary. _–Would it be something life-changing? _Her steps stopped and she'd seated herself on the chair she'd been on before. She unconsciously dug her nails into the chair's wood, and then her father and Sylvia took their respective seats on the other side within a very proximity to each other, most likely holding hands underneath the table or something.

-God was that ever hard to fathom in the adolescent's mind.

The two looked at each other, then away, then back again. The tension rose some more, and Rinoa could easily cut it with the butter knife on the table. The random sighs now echoed in the background, mostly from the teenager herself.

-Why _won't_ this stop?

Then, when Rinoa thought it couldn't get any worse, her father finally decided to speak.

"After much thought, we've decided that it would be best not to keep it a surprise anymore, seeing as it wouldn't be exactly advantageous for you so, to keep it short…"

Rinoa unknowingly bowed her head slightly. _'Here it comes…'_

"…we're doing something special for your eighteenth birthday, but you'll need to pack a suitcase."

She blinked twice in confusion. "_Err,_ what…_um_ come _again?_"

"We're taking you for a small three-day getaway for your birthday." He clarified. Rinoa gave another shocked look.

"But…uh…_how…?_" She blubbered out. "_Um,_ what about… school? I've got a partner for a… _thing_ in my first class and I don't think I can even afford missing a couple of days for this. I have a test on…_er…_ _Friday, yeah.._"

"Don't worry, Rinoa! I… _err_ **_we_** worked it out with your teachers, so you'll have nothing to fret about. You can relax and have fun; it'll just be the three of us." Sylvia explained, but somehow the word _'three' _kind of had an adverse effect on Rinoa. Images of the _three _of them doing something Hyne-knows-where was a scary thought. Sure… Sylvia could easily pass as her mother with her dark hair and fair complexion to the nearby onlookers,_ but…_ it really just _wasn't_ the same.

"_Great…!_" She quickly feigned, faking the little excitement in her voice. "-I'll go pack my stuff now."

Right before she'd been out of the room, Sylvia followed her. "I'll come help you pack Rinoa."

'_Wonderful…_'

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"So…tell me, do you like the boy who brought you home?"

"_Squall?_" Rinoa placed a sweater in the suitcase on her bed. "Uh…no, he's just a… friend of mine."

"_Hm,_ that's too bad. It looked as if he liked you." Another sweater was put in.

The teenager froze for a split second. Then, she put all of her efforts into packing.

"_-Do_ you think I should bring more than one set of pyjamas? _'Cause…_ I want to be sure that I'm packing enough."

The older woman broke into a weird-looking smirk. "One's fine. But you really shouldn't lie to me Rinoa; your face is so red that's it's giving you away."

"Noo…It's just hot in here. I go red _really_ fast when I'm warm."

"No Rinoa, it's not. In fact, I'm a little cold."

"Well… then I must be a naturally warm person!"

Sylvia shook her head in mock-pity. "Rinoa… it's okay, it'll just be between us girls."

'_Hell no it won't, you'll tell my father the instant I say yes you liar.'_

"Sorry, I still don't." She lied _very _convincingly enough. Her mother-clone seemed to finally take the hint and stopped pestering her and started packing again. Everything stayed silent after that right until the last sock was put in, and when that happened, Rinoa took the opportunity to leave to put her suitcase near the entrance door. Lucky enough for her, Sylvia didn't follow.

'_Hyne, will this ever be a mess of a 'vacation', I'm already homesick…'_

Moments later, after she placed the suitcase where she wanted to, she sat down on the floor for a brief minute.

'_Even worse… how am I going to tell Squall I can't spend my birthday with him?_'

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Well, I hope you liked the chapter despite yet another delay on my part, but to be honest, with getting back to school and all, it's possible that I won't be able to update more than once a month at the least, but on the other hand, finally having some structure to my day might have the opposite effect, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Sorry about the confusing sentence there, but at least it's a heads up.

_-'Til the next one!_

-Emerald-Latias

Oh, and before I forget, if you could be kind enough to write a review, maybe even speak your mind, that'd be greatly appreciated. _Thanks!_


	9. Chapter IX – Fallen

**Author's Notes –** I guess I'll have my work cut out for me this time, with all of the stuff that's happened in Chapter 8, that'll be pretty hard to top. Oh well, I'm up for the challenge. -_And looky here…_ I started this right after I posted my last chapter! So maybe… you guys _won't_ have to wait an eternity for this… Hm, that's an interesting concept, maybe I should try it more often…

Oh wait… it's been a month already. _Damn…_ I thought I was going to be able to surprise you guys…

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**Chapter IX – Fallen**

As he drove along the well-established roads that would eventually lead him home, Squall sighed with boredom, and quite possibly from the monotony as well. As much as he avoided admitting it, Rinoa made simple things like driving around a lot more… fun. Her infectious laugh, ridiculous ideas, everlasting zeal, and well… to put it in layman's terms, one would have to have a face made of stone not to smirk at least once in her company. As for Squall, well… he was coming to terms with not having that impermeable resistance anymore. She was chipping that away piece by piece.

He mindlessly drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, and waited for the intersection lights to change green again, although he fully-well knew that it would be a while regardless.

'_-Should I plan something for tomorrow?' _

Okay, maybe it wasn't going to be that long after all. The lights changed and he was off again, and as time trickled on, he never really had the chance to think until he had actually gotten home. In an odd twist of fate, traffic was virtually non-existent and green lights were conveniently in abundance. Perhaps the unwritten laws of the universe forced weird things to come in twos, or maybe he was analyzing this too much. Yep, the latter sounded much, much more reasonable.

After he parked the car, walked out, went into the house and shortly confined himself into his room, Squall wanted nothing more than to lie on his bed and let some ideas filter through into the conscious part of his brain, but sadly, he couldn't. Mainly because of the notion of it being the same place Rinoa had fallen out had come to mind. Hyne, now he couldn't even look at his bed now because that thought surfaced. So, the natural solution was to sit at his desk in the far left corner. No view of the bed what-so-ever. Perfect.

But once he sat down, he still looked back at the bed anyways. He let out a deep breath and tried to stop keeping his posture so tense. No luck there.

'_I can't escape this, can I?'_

A mental '_No.' _broadcasted in his head. He slumped his head down on the wooden desk.

'_-Everything's screwed up.'_

He lied still on the desk and cushioned his head with the aid of his two previously-dangled arms. He eventually fell into a light slumber. Although it wasn't as comfortable as sleeping on a mattress, it felt good to be catching up some more on the missed sleep from the past couple of days.

Roughly ten minutes later, Squall already had his fill of desk sleeping, and promptly lifted his head off of the solid surface. Something felt off, and it wasn't even the painful kink in his neck. It was a paper that had stuck onto his hand.

At that point, irony had claimed another life. It was the same paper with Rinoa's drawing on it that had firstly clung onto him two nights ago. Squall put it away and walked out of his room. He couldn't stand this crap anymore.

Following a quick descent down to the living room later, the teal couch became his personal victim. He fervently seized the opportunity to claim it for his own uses, specifically just to lie down on it and sort himself out …or _attempt _to anyway.

"_-Squall?_"

'_-Damn…' _He looked up, it was Laguna.

"_Can… _I have a word?" He mumbled awkwardly. Although Squall didn't exactly want to have to talk right now, he nodded. Mainly because if he didn't, his father would have pestered him into it anyways so… why prolong the hassle?

"Did _you_…uh_…_-_erm…when you…err…were upstairs, last night…uh..did you …ah? …U_se protection?"

Needless to say, Squall's expression went from neutral to shocked in about a nanosecond. He immediately bolted off of the couch and onto his own two feet with a dangerously ruler-straight posture.

"What the… _hell_?" He trailed off in full-scale annoyance, eyes narrowed and everything. "Hyne… Will I _ever_ find a place where I _won't_ get mentally disturbed… No, of _course_ not."

"Did I miss _somet-_"

Then, in mid-sentence, Squall left in a frustrated huff. Meanwhile, few seconds later, he found himself forcing his feet into his boots, grabbing the first coat he could find, which luckily was his, going out the door, and shutting it with a forceful slam. As to where he was going, he had just as much of an inkling as his clueless oaf of a father did.

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A couple minutes later, Squall ended up settling on a definite destination outside. It was cold and damp, but he stuck firmly with his decision.

-He had planted himself securely up on a high-up, massive oak tree's branch.

In his head, he knew that the poor sitting conditions couldn't possibly outweigh the peace of mind, knowing that **_no one_** else would be there. He let his one leg dangle past the bough.

'_Unbelievable, just unbelievable, I don't see how this could get any worse… Simply getting up this morning's been just a goddamn nightmare…' _He fumed. His dangled foot swayed some more.

'-_Get over it. Rinoa wasn't to blame for that, _s_he was only being observant._'

'_But…why does it feel like she's the one responsible?_'

Then, he retracted his leg. '-_She's not. She was only telling me what I…err… wanted to, kind of wanted to hear. Hyne, this feels so …strange though. I mean, not even a month ago, I wasn't even concerned about this, but now…it's…almost like a completely different story._'

He rested his head against the trunk of the tree and leaned his entire body backwards in conjunction, his eyes now lazily surveying the sparse leaves above him. A billowy gust of wind ruffled his coat a little, and he lolled his head to the side.

'_-What the…don't tell me that's- Oh for the love of…_'

He saw Laguna in the distance, doing whatever on the back lawn. Squall knew that had to get down from the branch or else he'd be cornered into…_talking_ to him if, by chance, his father had spotted him here. He ardently shuddered at the mere thought of it.

As he firmly gripped the trunk of the tree, the teenager lowered a leg to the closest branch below him. Within the ten second mark, he managed to place his foot securely onto the limb, then, as he lowered the position of his grip, he carefully prepared to put his other leg on there, if only it wasn't so awkwardly plac_ed-_

'**_C-CRACK!'_**

'**_Thunk!' _**

Squall laid there on the cold, hard ground at the base of the trunk, body spread-eagled, and tried to compute what had just happened. Then, it finally sunk in. The branch had given out and he had fallen hard onto the rock-solid earth.

'_Hyne…I can't move my legs. This can't be… good…'_

He gritted his teeth and attempted to turn over even though his whole body hurt, especially around his tailbone and legs, but never the less, he tried anyways. It didn't work; all he could manage was to simply painfully writhe in place. Squall closed his eyes in momentary defeat; how long would he have to wait before his father would find him? He moved his head to look. His father was nowhere in his line of sight. Strangely enough, he heard some rustling nearby.

"Having fun down there?"

If Squall would have had the capacity to do so, he would have rolled his eyes at him.

"Does it _look_ like I'm having fun?" The fallen adolescent grumbled acerbically, still, Laguna let out a chuckle.

"_And to_ _think,_ I once thought you were the more balanced of the two of us. Guess not."

"…Can you just _help_ me up?"

"Okay, okay…"

Squall instantly felt a pair of hands from under his arms lifting him up just then, and after a few grunts and awkward jerks later, he was finally upright- though… he wasn't carrying his own weight. His legs and back were too injured to do the job without immense repercussions to his nervous system, so… as much as he didn't like it, Laguna was helping him cross the large backyard. During the course of the trip, his one side that wasn't fully supported hurt like hell to say the least. Constant jolts of pain shot up his legs, back and arms, not to mention, Squall felt like his muscles were continuously on fire in addition to the invisible, restricting bind to his movements. Multiply the hurt with the embarrassment he felt at the moment and the painful nature of the situation went up tenfold at the minimum.

Then that pain skyrocketed furthermore as soon as he realized that this would put a definite cap of limitation of what he and Rinoa could do tomorrow. Squall drooped head even further than what it already was.

Suddenly, the morbid silence broke into moronic noise. "So… what were you doing in that tree Squall?"

Right now, Squall stayed silent. He wasn't quite in the mood to verbally point out to his father that, he would be a complete and utter idiot if he hadn't figured it out by now. But on the other hand, what he didn't say made quite a nice thought in retrospect. Feeling a little generous, he mustered a bit of a _'You're-an-idiot.'_ scowl. Laguna got the message and the back door was finally within grasp. Thank Hyne.

Once inside the house, Squall finally managed to regain a little dignity as he broke away from his father and attempted to slowly, and painfully limp to the teal couch he'd previously fled from, although the fool himself was still directly behind him, continuously asking if he wanted some help every two seconds. At that point, Squall smartly feigned deafness and just barely made it to the sofa just before collapsing on it.In the midst of this, his father had mysteriously disappeared, and maybe given up if luck was on his side. But then, he reappeared with dozen pillows and a humongous bag of ice.

Perhaps being unlucky did have some merits.

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Lunchtime came and went without as much as a peep for Squall. His minor progress health-wise enabled him to hobble over to the kitchen, make himself a simple sandwich, go back and simply stay on the couch for the rest of the duration. No fuss, no muss, and all it took was a littl_e- no, _**a lot** of extra grit.

After he'd completed his lunch, the prolonged silence broke.

'_**Drring…Drring…DRRING!'**_

Squall lifted his head up to scan around and listen intently. There was nobody else around, not even a discernable noise of scampering footsteps rushing to answer the phone's shrill rings. Was his father even home anymore? The teenager reclined once more and decided to let the machine do its' job and take it.

He stretched his arms behind him while the phone had somehow started to sound even louder. When would the stupid machine pick up the call?

'**_-DRRRRRRINNNG!'_**

Then, extending his arms a little further, Squall felt something solid hit against his outstretched hands and had made a small _'klunk' _noise. At least the cursed phone had finally stopped deafening him though.

"…_Helloo, is someone there? I hear breathing but no talking…"_

'_What the hell? What did I do- **Oh.**' _As he finished the thought, Squall had slightly swiveled his head towards the source of the noise. Then he realized that he'd knocked the phone off the receiver on the end table behind him.

The mystery was solved and an audible grumble was heard. He reached backwards with his arm again and had grabbed the cordless phone.

"Who… _is this?_" He answered rather grumpily.

"It-_t's_- _m**-bzzzt-**_me!" The female voice chirped through the large disturbance of static. Squall was not impressed.

"There are plenty of _me_'s in the world, be more specific." He added sharply. A giggle was heard in the background. Now he had a better idea of who it exactly was.

"It's Selphie! Didn't you recognize my voice Squall?"

_Okay_… maybe not.

"…No." He replied monosyllabically. "…Too much static."

"Oh, well o_**-bzzt-**k_ay. Then, I **_-bz-_**should make it short t**_-bzzz-_**hen. Rinoa wanted me to tell you that **_–bzzzzzzzzzzzzt-_**"

Squall moved the phone away from his ear, since the buzzing had become too loud and annoying to listen to. Then, he put it down, and supposed that Selphie would call back later if it was important. But for the moment, he shrugged it off and figured that maybe a distraction would prove useful.

After making up his mind, he propped himself upwards with the abundance of pillows he had at his disposal, relaxed his position once more and grabbed the television remote on the end table. Maybe he would get lucky today and find something interesting without coming across a horrible, illogical soap opera.

'-_Click!_'

---

"_I love you, and… as much as I'd like to, we can't marry in the spring… I'm enlisted in the Sorceress war…"_

"_Say it isn't so! What if… what if you get killed! Don't you remember your promise to me?_"

---

Oops…Too late.

A channel surfing frenzy soon developed after about an hour of monotonous program watching. Squall soon realized that nothing good was on at this time of day and he wasn't a TV person to begin with. Dying a little inside from the boredom, he eventually turned the damn thing off and tried to simply lie on the couch to rest his overly-achy body.

Then, after a good …two minutes later, he tried taking a nap to rid himself of boredom's deathly grip. In a matter of seconds, his proverbial lights went out and it felt nice after he'd wasted an hour and two minutes for virtually nothing worthwhile.

However, after forty-five minutes of restorative sleep, his nap was unexpectedly cut short.

'**_Knock. Knock._**'

Someone was obviously at the door, but, more importantly, where was his father again? The adolescent dismissed the thought and assumed that he'd be the lucky one charged with the duty of answering the door. But then again, why _did_ he have to answer the door? It was most likely going to be some simple door-to-door sales-idiot anyways.

'**_-Knock. Knock! KNOCK!' _**

Nevermind, door-to-door sales-idiots weren't _that_ persistent in trying to get their foot in the door. Guessing that it had to be somebody important, Squall got up slowly, but surely from his sitting position, grabbed one of the smaller ice packs to numb one of his more painful side pains and then tossed it aside as he started to stagger forward. The only thing he hoped for was that whoever it was at the door wasn't here to collect borrowed debts or something.

The surges of pain still raced up his leg, wrapping themselves around the bone, muscle and nerves alike. He sighed and once again thought ahead to tomorrow. There'd be no way that he'd be able do anything with Rinoa if his state kept on seesawing back and forth like this.

'**_Ding, Ding! -DIING!'_**

He grumbled. '_Yeah, yeah, I'm coming._'

After few moments of awkward shuffling, he opened the door and caught the person right before they'd left the driveway.

He instantly looked in disbelief.

"_-Rinoa?"_

She turned around. "Oh…hi. I thought you weren't home. Did you…_uh…_ _get_ Selphie's message?"

"No, I didn't." Suddenly, Rinoa's face looked downtrodden.

"I see, well… I came here to return the clothes you let me borrow." Right on cue, she handed him the folded set. "And listen… about tomorrow, I _can't_ _-err…_ I was wondering if… we could…do something today instead, if it's… _okay_ with you."

Squall cast his gaze aside. "I can't today."

Her face went even more sullen. "_Oh_… Are you busy?"

"Err…no."

"Are you… sick?" When Squall shook his head; Rinoa gave him a confused look.

He inwardly groaned. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

She gave him an even more perplexed stare this time with a hint of an inquisitive smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, almost inviting him to tell her his incredulous excuse anyways.

"Try me." She dared playfully. He groaned again.

"I…" He paused to grumble in advance for what he was about to say. "I fell out of…_a_ _tree._"

Although Rinoa's face had flushed pink, she hadn't laughed at him …_yet._ She appeared as if her mouth was really to burst out any second now though. The hint of a smirk present on her face had turned into a full-blown grin. …_Any second now… _

"_Why…_ were you in _a tree_ of all places?" Squall blinked in surprise.

"…I was trying to get away from the resident oaf."

"Why were you trying to get away from your fathe-" Suddenly, it dawned on her. "**_Oh._**"

Then, an uncomfortable silence ensued, filled with some equally-awkward looks exchanged between each other, blushes, and a little shoe-staring competition thrown in the mix of things. Eventually, Rinoa lost the contest and looked up at him.

"Listen, I… I'm sorry that your father is giving hard time because of me." She mumbled rather gracelessly.

He glanced upwards with a bit of a shy smirk. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have let you convince me so easily."

"_Heyy!_" Rinoa regained her goofy smile once more. "Just because I brought up what you secretly thinking, doesn't make it my fault you know."

"Hm."

"So… you actually fell from a tree?" She asked in mild disbelief. He nodded again. "I still find that difficult to believe."

He sighed. "…Do I have to show you the bruises?"

"No, no, I'll take your word for it this time." She giggled. "So I guess you couldn't go anywhere without it hurting a lot?"

He nodded again.

"Okay, maybe I should just let you get some rest then. Well, you make sure to get healthy again and don't worry about tomorrow, we can do something another day."

Right as she turned to leave, Squall managed to call out to her to prevent her from leaving just yet.

"Don't rule out tomorrow definitively. I might be well enough to go to somewhere."

The serene smile vanished completely. "I don't know how to say this but…I _can't_ do anything tomorrow, the General pulled a fast one over me and now I'm stuck for a three day 'vacation' in Dollet with him and that mother-clone of his."

"…What?"

"I can't do anything tomorrow Squall, I'm getting formally abducted for three days for a 'vacation'. I'm… so sorry…"

At that point, his stomach had plummeted to his knees and had violently come back up to throat-level.

"…It's fine." He mumbled listlessly. He turned to go back into his house but this time, Rinoa had prevented _him_ from leaving. The skin she'd grasped felt quite raw and achy. He flinched slightly from her hold, but remained still.

"Squall… it's _okay_ to tell me if you're disappointed with this, I'll… understand if you are."

"No, it's …_fine._" He murmured, and then shifted his glance slightly. "It's… not like it's your fault; you didn't plan on this. _Happy now?_"

"-A little. But… if it makes you feel any better, being with you tomorrow would have been a thousand times better."

Squall lifted his head with a contemplative look. "Hm Could you… let _go_ of my arm now?"

"Oh, _right…_ Sorry about that."

He rubbed his one arm. "So, I'll see you… _Wednesday?_"

She let out a large sigh. "Yeah, I guess so…"

They both stood there for roughly half a minute or so. Squall tried to find a way to say goodbye to her, but they both couldn't seem to force any coherent words out to end their meeting, or maybe it was possible that their hesitation held an inert truth. Regardless, this felt so _damn…_ awkward among other things. Suddenly, Rinoa took a miniscule step forward.

"Well, you get better now. _See you later._" She added sweetly. Then, she gave him a light peck on the cheek and gingerly skipped away, eventually hopped on her emerald-green bicycle and rode off. But just as she'd done so, she looked back. A frown marred her lips as she inevitably saw him still standing there blankly. Soon, she left the view completely.

'_Yeah…later.'_

As he turned his back to go into the house, he noiselessly sighed.

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'_Argh…I wish I would have closed the curtains…It's almost like that damn teachers' lounge…'_

As he slowly got up from the teal couch, he tried to shield himself from the sun's painfully bright morning rays.

Although… the attempt wasn't very effective since his arm started to ache with a fiery burn after every ten seconds.

…Hyne did he ever hate feeling like a lit matchstick every waking moment.

After spending an entire day and night lying around doing nothing other than 'resting' on the couch without much sleep that night, Squall hadn't felt much different then from when he'd first fallen out of the tree – save being able to walk around semi-painlessly in an almost-normal fashion. Now, he didn't have to hobble or limp, he basically walked normally except… it took him an eternity to do so.

So, needless to say, he reverted back to limping while mildly cursing after every second step.

After he got up stood straight as he could, Squall left the living room as fast as he could muster. The whole sight of it right now had started to make him slightly stir-crazy. He instinctively hobbled towards the kitchen.

Following a minute or two and roughly thirty swear words and death threats muttered later, he finally got there. He grabbed the first thing available, which was some bread, and mechanically put it in the nearby toaster. He mentally calculated that it would take at least two eternities before toast would pop out, so he sat down on a kitchen table chair.

Conveniently enough for him, there was the Sunday paper right there to kill time.

In the midst of filtering through most of the ads and pointless articles, very few words in print fleetingly sparked any interest at all. Apparently, the Sunday paper was more of joke that anything really. Maybe, they should have called it the Sunday ad-bag. …But then again, when was the media ever known for being entirely honest? _…Nevermind._

'_Ads for travel agencies - **Pass**.'_

Flip.

'_More ads for vacation deals – **Not interested.**' _

Flip.

'_Getaway spots – **No.**_'

'_Local restaurant's_ _dinner_ _special – **Nope.**_'

Flip.

'_Birthday greetings – **Why bother…**_'

'**-_Pop!_**'

His toast came up. …Finally.

He lazily got up to collect the near-burnt piece of toast and put it on a plate, slathered on some kind of toast-appropriate spread on it, and set it back on top of the table to eat. After he'd sat himself down, he took the first bite.

Suddenly, it felt rather hard to swallow at the moment; his eyes had grazed over a particular section of the page he'd left it at right before he heard the pop of the toaster. At that point, Squall didn't feel so hungry after all. He left right then and there, and left the unfinished toast altogether.

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Proceeding his meager breakfast, Squall thought it would be best to simply get the remainder of the little bit of homework done and packed in order to avoid Monday morning rushing. However, despite the notion being a marvelous idea, it wasn't exactly ideal – retrieving the homework involved stairs, and climbing stairs was something he could not do at the moment. But then again… he could still sit on a stair and pull himself backwards, one stair at a time with his arms.

Hm…That'd have to work.

After he'd spent a good five minutes going upstairs and an extra two to get back on his feet and down the corridor, the somber recesses of his room finally greeted his eyes. He flicked the light on. The desk's paper-littered surface became clear in the view, as did the crumpled sheets of his bed and the lone backpack idly slouched against the foot of it. He started walking towards it and midway through, a minor shock encircled the side of his left foot; he had hit something on the floor. Upon a quick glance downwards and a little nudge with his foot, the deduction was that he'd hit his cell phone.

As he subsequently picked it up slowly and carefully, he noticed that, it oddly enough wasn't properly turned off. However, right before he was about to correct this, a notice on his screen told him that he had a new voice message. Seeing as he was more than a little curious, he sat on the edge of his bed and instantly clicked on to hear it.

And so, for the umpteenth time this weekend, he was on the receiving end of an unlikely occurrence.

"_Hi, it's me, Rinoa. Listen, I know that I said that we couldn't do anything together, but I think I found a way to sneak some time in. -That is, if you're feeling up to it. So if you can, meet me at the Balamb harbour docks at eleven tonight._"

After hearing the message, Squall turned the phone off, plainly tossed it aside and went into deep contemplation.

'_Should I accept this invitation?_'

'_No, the question should be, 'Will I be able to accept this invitation?'_'

Then, as he laid back along the bed's length and sighed, he summed the answer with one final thought.

'_Where there's a will, there's a way._'

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**End of Chapter Comments – **I'm kinda proud of myself here, this has been the shortest chapter I have ever written. And yes, I know that it sounds like a weird thing to be proud of, but if you think about it, it shows that I'm not bound to my six thousand word minimum routine, so maybe in the future, I might be able to put out more (and reasonably smaller) chapters in less time. Ooh, wouldn't that be wonderful? You guys wouldn't have to wait a whole month anymore.

_Cool…_

Anyways as usual, if you can review with anything you want to say, that'd be great because… to be honest, I am getting a little tired of receiving very few reviews. And although I'm not doing this for praise or glory, it's just that I'd like to know where my writing's at so I can make sure that I'm not putting out pointless drivel. I don't mind if you didn't like certain things, just tell so that I can improve and make this fic worth it to you readers.

That's all my ranting for tonight,

-Emerald-Latias


	10. Chapter X – Eleven Fifty Nine

**Author's Notes –** Hi, everybody! It's just me again, typing up whatever, claiming it to be fanfiction. Heh, I'm just messing with you guys, I actually put some thought into this, or well… at least I hope I did. _Hehe…Yeah…Right._

Anyways, I hope that you'll like this chapter and I assure you, this fic _is_ going somewhere, it's just taking a long and _s..slow _ride to get to that problem mentioned in the summary, and yes, that hasn't happened…yet. Geeze, it's already chapter ten and I'm still trying to get there, man I really must be going fast- _I mean… s…l…o…w._

_Yeah so… off I go! Yah!_

Oh before I forget, I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, school's being a royal pain by giving me far too much Math and French work…Stupid curriculum…_Grr.._

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**Chapter X – Eleven Fifty–Nine**

Right after he'd received her call ten minutes ago, Squall decided that it would be a diligent idea to do get his school work out of the way immediately. If he was going to meet up with Rinoa late tonight at the docks, there'd be no way in hell that he'd even think about attempting it the next morning. Living zombies weren't known for their handiwork, right?

So, he reached over for the bag near the foot of the bed, pulled out the necessary books and pens needed, and then he leaned up against the bed's headboard and prepared himself to do the task assigned right there, instead of getting up and doing it at the usual spot, the room's desk. Today, the achy teenager felt like he had a free license to be a little slothful, after all, as common logic would surely dictate, if he could avoid moving around, the more he'd heal.

Although this unorthodox approach deemed a little uncomfortable at first, with the awkward angle he had to bend his torso and the lack of a hard surface to produce neat handwriting, Squall eventually adapted to the situation, but at the same time, he still wasn't able to effectively jot down whatever answer, summary, or the unfair impromptu seven paragraph essay he needed to finish. His mind was cloudier than the thickest fog.

During these periods of lack of internal focus, his mind would often drift towards the whole absurdity of this whole weekend, and more specifically, today. Actually, upon further analysis, this wasn't accurate, since his thoughts had a cruel way of edging some typical teenager anxieties, sprinkling a few visions of hypothetic plans to even get to the proposed place at the suggested time, and finally, a dash of reflection on how he'd try to come back home undetected.

He tossed away the collection of notebooks, textbooks and pencils off of the bed with a resounding clatter. The homework would have to wait. Speaking of waiting, why did he have to experience nearly every teenage problem known to man- errr… seventeen year-old adolescents all at once after such a long period of a _quiet nothing?_ Squall's mind almost melted when he attempted to answer that thought.

'_Life never plays fair; you already **knew** that lesson, remember?' _

'**-_Knock. Knock._'**

'_-That certainly proves my theory…' _

"Are you okay in there? I heard a really big _'Thunk'_."His father's inane chatter resounded past the other side of the door.

This time, Squall rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine…" He reassured impassively.

His father's voice echoed some more. "Well, what where you doing in there? _Tossing bricks?_"

"No, I'm tossing school books. I'm planning to torch the house by lighting them." He replied sardonically. At the same time, Squall could imagine the vague look of horror on his father's face.

Laguna opened the door a crack, and poked his head through. Yep, his imagined look of vague horror was indeed there.

"You're not serious _…right?_" He asked timidly, being quite unsure of his son now-a-days.

Squall sat up on his bed and turned to face him with a trace of a devious look.

'_I can't pass this up can I?_'

"…Depends. If I can get a lighter…"

Finally, Laguna came to his senses and also came through the door. "**_-SQUALL!_** You're not burning the house down and that's the end of this odd… _very odd_ discussion. Are you nuts?"

Then, the supposed-pyromaniac put his feet on the floor, and marched right up to his father. …And strangely enough, his legs didn't hurt as bad. _-Hmm,_ maybe it was a sign.

"If it answers your question, only an idiot would think I was being serious." He asserted boldly without a trace of hesitation. "Whatever, I'm leaving."

So, for the second time this weekend, Squall left before his father had time to compute a coherent response out of his mouth since his jaw was still very agape at the moment. At least he got the intended message this time.

However, just as he took a step on the first stair seconds later, his one foot started to give him a fair deal of trouble once again. Squall stopped his descent and went back towards his room. -Scratch that, his father was still nearby. He went into his parents' old room, the guest room. The idea of resting might have been a good one after all.

After a brief interval, Squall found himself sitting on the edge of the immense king-size bed inside, fully taking in the room's atmosphere for the first time in a long while. Hyne… so much has changed in the last twelve years inside this very place… now that he gave it a good deal of thought. The only thing reminiscent of the long-forgotten period of time was the bed itself. Everything else had been replaced, given away, or put aside in storage. He weakly slumped himself onto the bed while he subconsciously mulled over a long-forgotten truth; he owned the only object that his father didn't take away - His mother's family heirloom, the Griever ring. More specifically, it was the same piece of expertly crafted metal he'd been fiddling between his fingers for the past second or two.

Squall groaned. The mixed luck he'd been having today had thoroughly amazed _and_ annoyed him to no end. No words could ever describe how eerie the simple memory tied to the ornament itself had seemingly unearthed a whole slew of others, which he'd otherwise managed to escape from for so many years. That, and how that one action had nearly regressed him to square one mentally in an instant.

When he noticed the dull ache forming around legs, he let his arms and legs flop mercifully on the mattress. Apparently, he'd unknowingly let himself tense up. Taking in a deep breath, Squall stabilized himself once more.

'_Hyne, I've got to stop that...I'm supposed to be over this. Remembering a simple memory or two doesn't mean that I've got a permit to go all screwed up.' _

He immediately buried himself in one of the pillows.

'_Egh…this is exactly the kind of thing I've got to avoid.'_

'…_So why did I even come in here? Why did I even do this to myself?_'

Just then, the nasty little voice inside of his head surfaced. **'_Because you thought you were over it, that's why._'**

Squall grumbled and made an impromptu decision to fall asleep immediately. He deeply regretted that he hadn't taken the 'resting' part of his own idea more seriously and possibly sooner. The sleep eventually came, but it wasn't the kind he'd been hoping for.

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"Wake up, _c'mon…wake up._ _Egh_…This'll be the last time I'll put up with you sleeping here if you don't _err_…get up. I've caught you here four times this week alone and each time I had to force you to get up."

_(…What?)_

The lump underneath the pastel covers turned over. "…I don't want to go now, and it's no different then waking up elsewhere. You never complained then." Then, the owner of the boyish voice moodily rolled back.

"C'mon, get up. Now, please? Argh…" The adult demanded to no avail. "Okay… if you won't get up, then what is it about this bed that makes you want to sleep here instead of your own?"

Suddenly, this scene looked all-too familiar in Squall's head.

_(If this is what I think it is, I'm going to hear a 'Wh-)_

"Whatever." The boy mumbled under the materiel folds.

_(-Jackpot. Now all I need is a mental rain check…)_

Then, just as Squall's memory dictated, Laguna uncovered the sheets layer by layer, and had achieved to eventually expose his lanky nine year-old son who'd been hiding underneath. The boy finally conceded and sat down on the edge of the bed, yet he always looked away from his father beside him.

Laguna chuckled lightly. "You know Squall, I've tried just about everything to figure out why you keep on coming here, and I still don't know anything. So… do _you_ know why?"

The younger Squall brought his legs up and tucked them tightly against his body with his arms. "…No."

After that comment, Laguna gave him a curious look, but a meager smile had shown through as well.

"…So it **isn't** because you still miss your sister?" He asked wryly. The boy's head immediately did a 180 degree turn and he gave his father a very particular look.

"That's what I… kinda suspected." He added with a thoughtful tone. "Well then…what do we suggest we do?"

His younger self shyly propped his head on top of his knees.

"I want… to change rooms."

"Hm." A moment passed in quiet contemplation. "I guess we could do that, but you know, if we do this, we'll have to change things around the house to make it work."

"…Like what?"

"Like if we move your stuff to Ellone's ro_om- err_ Ellone's **_old_** room, we'll have to paint the walls and some of the furniture, maybe buy some new covers and… I'll have to move to your old room."

"Why is that?"

"-Just… because Squall. Now… what colour would you like the walls?"

_(If memory serves it'll be, '-Gray. Maybe black.'.)_

"…I don't care. It's all the same."

_(…Well said.)_

"Good. Then after school, we'll go to the supplies shop together. Sound ok?"

He nodded silently.

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Squall could hear the crickets' chirps piercing the outdoors' stillness again. The light creaks of footsteps could be now heard in the distance, and so, he rolled onto the other side. Listening to the mattress springs' creaking beneath him, he couldn't deny that he was no longer dead to the world. Following a few subtle jerks later, he'd awakened forcefully, his upper-half bolted into an upright position. Then, confusion had him in ensnared in a fierce grip. Where was he? And more importantly, why had he shot up so suddenly, lightly sweating even? Had he forgotten something? Or was there something he needed to do?

He scanned his surroundings. No shapes to be discerned, not even shadows, and everything was pitch-black. Well, except that he'd seen a compilation of red LCD numbers in a far corner. Wait, it read… _10:36 pm? _

Crap. Crap. **_Crap!_**

At that moment, everything came back …and it just so happened that he was **_very_** late.

He flung the covers over to the foot of the bed and nearly killed himself in his efforts to walk over to his own room. The darkness had not been kind and it had contributed in the stubbing of many toes, several times even. Consequently, the irritated teenager took advantage of the fact that it was a mostly-soundproof room quite liberally.

After mindlessly stumbling into his room, Squall made an immediate point of checking his cell. Subsequent to his search, he found that there were no new messages. Now he was instantly caught. Was she still expecting him to show? Or more importantly, what was he to do? It was already too late to call and cancel and was even later to try to make it, since a direct trip to the harbour docks took at least forty minutes _with_ good traffic and conditions. However, given that his body was no longer smarting as badly as before, the real question was now – Would she still be waiting for him?

He dialed her cell number in order to figure that one out.

'_Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-'_

"_Hi, you've got Rinoa's cell, sorry, but I'm busy right now so just leave a-"_

'**-_Click._**_ Off._'

Squall tossed the phone aside, pocketed his keys and dashed out as fast as he could muster. Right now, he didn't care if his father caught on to what he was going to do, but _dammit, _he was going to try.

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After battling the impairing conditions and idiot drivers, Squall had eventually earned the right to cut the lights and shut off car motor in the marina's parking lot. Roughly after fifty-six grueling minutes of his life later, filled with dodging several drunkards, avoiding getting flattened from over-zealous employees coming home from a night shift, and swerving around five stray cats, he had finally arrived. But the almighty question remained. Was she still waiting for him?

He closed the driver's door with a veritable slam and ran as best as he could towards the docks.

Passing by a blur of inky surroundings, the bright light of a far-off lighthouse stopped him dead in his tracks. After the light had moved away and it was safe to look again, Squall realized that he was already where she'd proposed they'd meet judging by the _'klank'_ of the wooden dock beneath his feet. Immediately, he scanned around to see if her most-likely bored and angry figure was still around.

A look to his left showed the cobblestone pavilion with the moonlit cliff in the distance, along with the dimly lit ice cream shop's green trim and other closed shops. A glance to his right revealed an empty stretch of the docks nestled against the edge of land, reaching out as far the eye could see, and the unblemished sapphire sea glowing with pale moon overhead. After looking high and low, Squall sighed; Rinoa wasn't a part of this picturesque landscape.

A cruel wind now blew in front of him. Although physically, all it had done was whip at his face savagely and had toyed with his jacket, but mentally, the abuse was more potent; it had accentuated and embodied the growing loneliness and shame he felt at this given moment. Right now, he imagined how much she'd gone through just to arrange a meeting with him at this time of night, and there he was, ruining everything by being inexcusably late.

Another gust of wind slapped his face. Narrowing his eyes slightly, the teenager thought it would best to leave; the very sight of the docks had started to annoy him thoroughly and effectively.

Followed by an extremely slow, trudging walk back to the parking lot, and after he mindlessly fumbled for his keys in his coat pocket, Squall noticed that, from what he could discern in the extremely poor lighting, the car seemed to have an odd object placed on top of the front windshield. His pace doubled in idle curiosity.

Right before approaching the car, he heightened his guard and when he got closer… nothing happened. Then, the ironic truth came out; the odd lump on his front windshield was only a random shopping bag caught under the wipers. After he let himself exhale, Squall was instantly relieved and vaguely confused at the same time. What had he expected?

Suddenly, a loud rumble came from the back. He nearly jumped ten feet.

"…**_Glad you could make it."_**

Squall nearly keeled over; Rinoa was lying peacefully on the trunk of the car, serenely looking at the stars.

"You're…still _here?_" He choked out in sheer amazement. She turned her head to face him.

"Yeah, it's long story so I won't bother. Come lie down beside me Squall, the view is _amazing._"

Despite his usual opinion on stargazing, where he thought that it was a complete waste of time, Squall had mysteriously ignored his most of his own outlook, followed her suggestion and had walked to the other side, climbed on and simply laid down right beside her to gaze at the heavens above. For some reason, the idea had a lot more appeal tonight.

The entire night scenery over their heads seemed alive and brimming with life; thousands of stars looked like twinkling diamonds, shooting stars danced across the heavens, and even a couple constellations graced the velvet skies.

Taking a slight break from their activity, Squall looked over at his star-gazing partner. With her hands neatly tucked behind her head and a big smile present on her face, Rinoa seemed perfectly content. Then, she caught his regard.

Pointing to the scenery above her, she made a brief comment.

"Pretty isn't it?" He gave a faint nod in reply.

"You know… the stars weren't the only reason I wanted you here at this ungodly hour."

Squall's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When she caught sight of his expression however, she lightly giggled.

"Oops, I didn't mean it that way, it's just that, when I found out that we couldn't go and do something like we'd planned, I got the idea that… if I at least spent the moment I was actually born with you, it could mean something, in a …strange and maybe validating kind of way you know? Sorry if that sounded a little weird."

"No…it's alright."

'**_Beep-beep-beeep!_'**

"Well it's official, I'm eighteen now!" The lighthearted girl declared as she turned off her watch alarm. Meanwhile, Squall glanced over at the watch's illuminated face.

"…You were born at 11:59?" He asked quizzically. Rinoa broadly smirked and immediately leaned over to hug him.

"_Aww…_That was the weirdest version of a 'Happy birthday' that I ever heard! Thank you Squall!" She joked affectionately.

Squall had grown quite red in the face because of this gesture. Then, after Rinoa let go of the hug and saw his priceless expression in spite of the darkness, her grin grew even broader.

"Hee…Now _that's_ cute. But it's kind of a shame that I didn't bring my camera."

'_-Thank God…' _

Right after he finished that thought, Rinoa hopped off of the car.

"Well, camera or no camera, I think I …have to go back to the hotel down the street, before they start suspecting things, tonight was very_… nice._ I'll see you Wednesday, _'kay?-_"

Before this turned into a repeat of their awkward Saturday parting, Squall interrupted. "Rinoa…wait."

"Yes,Squall?"

He hesitated too long and had messed up the plan he had in mind.

"I'd…I'd better drive you there."

"No it's okay. It's not a long walk." She clarified. "However, I wouldn't mind someone to walk with."

Squall descended from the automobile's trunk. "…Fair enough."

After the two minute walk past the remotely vacant parking lot, Squall and Rinoa eventually reached some of the street post-lighted sidewalks. The somber mood had immediately eased.

"So… aren't you going to ask me about the 'horrors' I had to endure today?" She joshed with a smile. The grin must have been infectious because a faint smirk appeared on the corners of his lips.

"…Go ahead."

"Well, first of all, my father woke me up too early, yet we _miraculously_ missed our boat to Dollet, so we're now staying at a hotel tonight in hopes of going tomorrow. I spent the entire time looking around the marina shops and kept on buying stuff that I really didn't need …and honestly, I think that it's becoming a prob-"

In mid-sentence, Squall stopped her from walking any further. She gave him a perplexed look.

"…You almost walked onto a busy street." He explained concisely. "If I hadn't stopped you, you would have been flatter than a pancake."

Rinoa's face reddened. "Oops…I guess I got a little too caught up with that…"

After he quickly scanned both sides of the street, they crossed safely without trouble. Then, Rinoa paused to look at her watch, followed by a quick glance back to Squall. A smile crept through her previously calculating regard.

"You know… maybe I can wait a _little _longer before going back to the hotel." She enticed mischievously; the other teenager couldn't help but shake his head in mild disbelief.

"If you wanted to do something else, you could have just said something." He bluntly pointed out.

"Yeah, but what's the fun in that? Besides, you like it, I can tell."

When he arched an eyebrow, her whole face illuminated. "I _knew _it! Your face is giving _you_ away… you _looove_ my surprises! You can't get enough of them I'll bet."

Squall rolled his eyes. "…Now you're being ridiculous."

"_Nooo…_ I'm on the ball. You just don't know it yet." She insisted.

His expression effectively turned into a curious look. "-What makes you say _that?_"

"Well…" She thoughtfully placed her index finger to the side of her cheek. "…If I know you correctly, you would have left already if you didn't like my _exciting_ surprises."

"-I didn't eve_n-_ …_nevermind._ So …where are going exactly?"

"Ah, Squall, always to the point… Well, follow me and you'll find out soon enough 'cause I'm not telling you where we're going. Consider it payback for when you took me to that ice cream shop without saying anything. Anyways, let's get going!"

Suddenly, Rinoa grabbed his one hand and whisked him away to Hyne-knows-where. Squall simply hoped that she had better night vision than he did.

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Following a ten minutes' worth of shortcuts, random property trespassing, and the occasional stumble or two, they'd arrived to their destination. Squall looked in pure astonishment after she'd announced that they were indeed where she had been referring to earlier.

The place she had brought him to was the very beginning of the far-off end of the beach which looked like it was…_not too far_ from where he'd been before when he was looking around the marina. _Hm._ He blinked in contemplation as he eyed the lone picnic table placed starkly in the middle of the beach sands.

In fact, after he'd had some time to reflect, the alleged path that Rinoa had taken him _did_ seem like a complete circuit back to where they'd met originally, give or take a few minutes' deal of walking.

'…_Now why does that not surprise me?_' He thought as they both sat on the redwood table.

"Well… what do you think?" She inquired, braking his ever-going train of thought.

"Rinoa, I honestly couldn't tell you, it's too dark to judge."

"Darn, I thought I could have topped your surprise. Oh well, there's always next time. But I suppose that we could still enjoy the stuff I left here."

Squall craned his neck towards her direction. _Stuff?_

Rinoa scampered back to the high grasses where they'd emerged from previously only to bring back a mid-sized, honest-to-goodness, down to the cliché red gingham cloth-cover, wicker-woven, _picnic_ _basket._

"In case if you're wondering, this _basket _happened to be one of the many, many odd things I bought today, but…I believe that it might prove useful tonight, don't you think?" She gingerly elaborated when she heaved the basket onto the table.

Feeling as if he might be hallucinating right now, Squall did an honest-to-goodness double-take. When he opened his eyes again, the old-fashioned basket was indeed there, and Rinoa had started to take different things out.

"Squall… _Uh…_ excuse the bluntness, _but,_ with that look on your face, you almost look like you're ready to chew the basket."

Just then, he remembered how empty his stomach really was…and how he hadn't gotten a chance to eat in over half a day. A notion consisting of, _'Stupid nap.'_ had crossed his mind. Subsequently, when he realized that he hadn't given her an answer, he passively shrugged, supposing at the same time that hunger did weird things to people.

With supernatural timing, his stomach growled.

"Hehe… I guess that my picnic idea must have been a good thing, huh?" She joked.

'_Could having a picnic, in the middle of the night, with mildly-cold weather no less, ever be considered a good idea?_ -_I'd better not answer that honestly. Good timing though.'_

"…I suppose."

"Good. Well… take whatever you like, I packed tons of stuff so, dig in!"

After they'd both picked a few things here and there to put on their respective plates, a sort of unspoken, almost scenic ambiance sprouted. The feeble winds had died down to non-existence, the temperature mysteriously warmed, and the glowing stars seemed to have increased in abundance. Only a little later, Squall let his fingers aimlessly push around a remaining piece of strawberry back and forth between the other things on his plate, feeling like he was under a spell of déjà vu somehow. Just as well, his priorities inexplicably changed from eating the food in front of him to quell his empty stomach to unraveling that said mystery.

"You know, for someone who looks like he could eat a basket, you sure don't seem to have much of an appetite. Is there something on your mind or are you just tired?"

Squall sighed. _'Damn, I forgot that she's a mind reader. Or am I **that** obvious right now?'_

"Not really." He mumbled distractedly. "Well, actually… all of this is kind of reminding me of another moment we were together."

"Oh?" Rinoa blurted out in an inquisitive tone. "What does it remind you of? Was it the time you took me to the cliff?"

"No."

"Um… the dance?"

"…Not that either."

"Then it has to be.." Then, in an instant, Rinoa's face lit up. "When we hid together, thinking that there was a burglar in the school?"

'_Okay, that came out of left field… -Whatever, I might as well tell her; she could be guessing for awhile.'_

"No, this is _…I don't know_… it's kind of reminding of the day where we spent lunch in the old school shed. Even then, I don't know why this is reminding me of that day."

"Hehe… Maybe you're simply expecting to get caught by someone since it's so late. Could that be it?"

Squall mouthed a simple 'no', got up, strode forward and edged near the beginning of ocean, where the water cascaded onto the shore. As he took a long look at the serene sparkling ocean, soft footsteps sinking in the sand soon followed him. Rinoa appeared at his side and was now sharing the same view he had without a moment to spare.

He glanced towards his right, facing her directly. "I think…that the connection was the peaceful atmosphere."

"…You think so?" She optimistically whispered back. The rolling waters calmly splashed against their feet.

After a long and thoughtful look, he continued. "Maybe…but, when we were in the shed, the peacefulness was enjoyable because we…_I_ didn't have to deal with the others, but this time… I don't think it's the same."

Although Rinoa hadn't said anything afterwards, her brightened eyes emanated her profound level of genuine surprise from his comments. Suddenly, Squall almost wished that he would have reserved that last awkward monologue for the dark recesses of his mind. Now he had to contend with the fact that he'd have to elaborate on something he wasn't even sure of at the moment. He felt a tight constriction grip his body for a second or two.

"_Actually_…nevermind… I… _don't think…_ -Ignore what I said before."

"Squall… Speaking your mind isn't such a bad thing, but if you don't let yourself, it'll always feel that way. In awkwardness, I mean…"

"…I realize that Rinoa, but I don't think I knew what the hell I was talking about regardless."

She inched closer. "No, I'm pretty sure that you did. C'mon, say it for me…_pretty please?_"

"If I figure it out… I'll tell you." He compromised in exasperation.

"Good enough. Sooo, are you going to finish what you put on your plate? Or am I going to have to make you eat it? Hee…hee…" She teased.

"Might as well…I'm kind of starving."

Rinoa put her hands on her hips in mock-annoyance. "No wonder you're _so_ lanky, you get distracted by _ever-y-thing!_ Could you tell me any other secrets you may have so that I can use them to my advantage?"

"…You don't need any secrets Rinoa."

She let out a small giggle. "Squall, that was supposed to be a joke! Ooh… I swear you're too serious for your own good sometimes…"

When he realized his mistake, he pinched the bridge of his nose from his sheer stupidity.

"…Whatever."

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Following the remnants of their midnight picnic, they started to walk back from whence they'd came from, since it was easily the quickest way back to her hotel. The path they were using currently was indeed darker and for the obvious reasons, the feeling of security had dwindled to close to nil. After Rinoa had revealed that it was past one o'clock, Squall immediately wished that he had driven her to the hotel, knowing that it was this time of night when lowlifes prowled the desolate streets looking for trouble.

As they passed the last thicket of forest trees and into the lit sidewalks, Squall kept his vision even more alert within his capabilities and held her close to ensure her safety.

The silence broke.

"…Squall, are you going to be okay to get to the car and to your home at this hour?" Rinoa asked in an overly-concerned tone. Not bothering to pause and worry her with his thoughts, he answered quickly.

"I'll be fine."

"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure that I can find a way for you to stay if you needed to."

His eyelids drooped ever so slightly. "…No, I'm positive."

"-You look kind of tired though." She pointed out.

"No, I'm _sure_ that I can get home." He assured rather crossly. "-I'd rather worry about getting you to the-"

"-**_Aah! Get away! Get AWAY!_**"

Squall immediately jumped towards the source of Rinoa's frenzied screaming when the unthinkable happened.

…Her duster had been caught by an errant tree branch sticking out from the property alongside the sidewalks. He took in a deep sigh of relief when he had freed her from the tangling bough. She immediately collapsed into his arms.

"_It was just a tree, right?_" The previously-caught teenager inquired solemnly. He gave her a reassuring 'yes'.

"Good, lets' get to the hotel before something really happens…"

A few minutes later, the hotel's immense structure loomed clearly in the view. However, when they reached the same corner where she'd informed him of her surprise earlier that evening, they'd stopped walking. Actually, it was Squall who'd stopped Rinoa from walking any further. …Not because of the streets either.

"-What, _what is it?_"

"…I figured out what I couldn't earlier."

She effectively stayed rooted in her position, and had returned to having her usual warm grin. "Good. I knew you would."

Preparing for a somewhat long speech, Squall took in a large breath.

"When I said that the peaceful atmosphere might have been the connection…I was only half right."

"_-How so?_" She interjected.

"Well, before, what I said about the enjoying the silence had been true, but what I couldn't figure out was why it tied in with tonight, and then, when I had only focused on getting you to your hotel… it hit me."

He took in another breath for good measure. "Tonight… it was the opposite. I had enjoyed the peacefulness for what it was, not because it meant that there was no one else around."

"_Oh…does that mean-" _She mumbled in slight astonishment before stopping in mid-sentence. _"Err, I mean…_It's good to know that you liked tonight as much as I did."

'_Hyne, this is going to be…ugh- Rinoa, I wish you would have just said it instead of making this more awkward than it already is.' _

'_-Regardless, here goes nothing…_'

"Rinoa, I…_think_ that _I'll be_…_err.._I can-"

He froze up. Not voluntarily though, it was because for the second time tonight, Rinoa had nearly hugged him to asphyxiation before letting him go.

"-You can handle us being together without hiding it _anymore?_" She finished hopefully, her hands clasped together even.

"…If you'll put up with me trying to."

"Oh Squall, that's more than enough for me! …Thank you so very much." She ecstatically exclaimed.

Finally relieved that the ordeal of telling her was over, Squall had enough nerve to finish a variation what he'd sought out to do earlier as he approached her and secured his promise, _and_ the end of her birthday outing, with the most meaningful way he knew how – With the most long-lasting and passionate kiss he'd even given her.

Afterwards, when they'd finally parted lips, it was not long before Rinoa used hers' again.

"…Now the night's been truly spectacular, wouldn't you say?"She asked breathlessly.

Unfortunately, or rather _fortunately,_ Squall hadn't even bothered to answer her question. He was much more preoccupied to make the second embrace just as memorable as the first.

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**End of Chapter Comments – **God, I am so, sooo bad that it's ridiculous isn't it? Well, at least I think it was nice that Squall and Rinoa had one catastrophe-less night between themselves. Sorry if the ending was a tad mushy though, I just had to capitalize on the beginning of something new. Besides, they both deserve _some _happiness, don't they? Aah, enough of my excuses… it gets annoying, I know…

So until the next one _(not the next excuse, the next chapter!)_,

-Emerald-Latias

P.S – In case if you guys were wondering, I had edited the chapter slightly. I had accidentally left in some useless words that I'd forgotten about. Hehe…Oops.


	11. Chapter XI – Enduring the Void

**Author's Notes – **Okay, I'm really going to do my best and get things moving forward with the fic, however, don't think for a second that just because Squall's trying his best to accept being in public with Rinoa that everything's going to go downhill, 'cause I assure you, it wont. Just think of it as another stepping stone with its' own set of problems/rewards.

Anyways, regardless of all that, I will still keep the same quality and tone, so don't worry about me rushing things just for the sake of advancement. (That's just the sugar-coated way of saying that I'm going to take forever to get anything written.)

…_Oops, that wasn't supposed to be in the author's notes…**Damn!**_

Before I start, please note that I've bumped up the rating for this fic just in case the additional swearing and stuff in this chapter warrants the change. However, since I'm not really sure if I really needed to change it, if it can still be covered with the original K+ rating, just tell me in a review and I'll change it back. Thanks!

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**Chapter XI – Enduring the Void**

"_**Well… I think I have to get back in there…Thanks again for the wonderful evening… Bye…"**_

After he'd heard those soft, yet reluctant words escape from the lips of Rinoa's tickled-pink features only a few minutes prior, walking alone felt like an icy cold shot of pessimistic reality. It would be a couple of antagonizing days until she'd come back, and the fact that she didn't even want to be there in the first place didn't help any. Hyne, he missed her already.

Walking further, Squall hastened his pace along with his train of thought, the faster things went, the more notions swirled in and out of the mental loop; most of them focused on how he was going to deal with the idiots at school and how he wasn't going to have a first-period partner for three days. Then, when he'd come to think of it, everything seemed to come back to Rinoa in one way or another.

Squall gave his head a fervent shake.

'_Whoever said love is painful was dead on._'

'-**_HONK! HOOOOOONK!_**'

The teenager jumped back onto the sidewalk as a transport truck rocketed past the otherwise-deserted crosswalk. Leaning against a lamppost, Squall was very glad that his sole concern at the moment was catching his breath.

'_Hyne, that was close…_'

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In the dead of night, otherwise known as three in the morning, without much regard towards stealth or finesse, Squall entered the somber house. Two seconds later, his actions cost him dearly as he stumbled over some carelessly discarded boots and fell flat on the floor with a resounding clatter. Somehow, the fall made him feel more in common with the father who he allegedly shared half his genes with.

A dim light flooded the entrance and the aforementioned father was now in the view, holding the corresponding light switch. Squall eyes widened.

'…_So much for not caring.' _He lamented on the floor before getting up and brushing himself off.

"Where were you Squall? It's past three already!" Laguna insisted worriedly, in a particular tone ill-fitting to his usual carefree demeanor.

"…Out."

"Squall…" He gave the teenager a rare look of concern mixed with puzzlement, "…It's not like you to pull this kind of thing so late at night and quite frankly, I'm a little scared. What's gotten into you?"

"…Nothing." He added dismissively.

"…So it **isn't **because you were with Rinoa?" Laguna inquired dryly. Squall gave him a perplexed look.

'…_Somehow that **exact** tone he used sounds extremely familiar……'_

"…"

The adolescent left and went upstairs.

Following a couple dozen of steps and a soft '_thunk' _of the mattress later, Squall found himself on top of a bed and covers, head swirling and breath shortened. Moments later, when the vague stupor had lifted and stopped enveloping him entirely, that's when he had finally registered that he was in his room.

However, it didn't register for long as sleep's call was far too powerful, far too soothing, and far too…seductive to resist…

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'_BEEEP! BEEEP BEEEP! BEEEP-_'

'**_Whack!_**'

'_Bee…p._'

Squall hazily let one eye drift open before slowly letting the other follow suit. With his eyes now opened, the immediate sight of that particular alarm clock became incredibly nauseating. Rolling over, he groaned miserably.

'………_Just shoot me…_'

Without a second thought, he let his eyes close for the _tiniest_ moment.

"-Squall, get up now."

-Make that a _grossly microscopic_ moment.

"…_What?_" The teenager grumbled. Laguna let out a sigh of exasperation.

"..I _knew _you'd be like this in the morning…" He mumbled under his breath before talking at a normal level. "Come on Squall, get up. You chose to come home extremely late, you have to suffer the consequences, come on…now…"

"…_Mmf.._" He argued incoherently from under the comforter.

Laguna let out yet another sigh. "Okay, you leave me no choice then…"

'**_Swoosh!_'**

Seconds later, Squall felt a little colder, namely because the comforter had just yanked off with little warning. Then, he felt something abruptly and forcefully hit him to make up for that coldness. Looking down, he saw a random set of clothes pooled by his stomach. Looking up, he met the same regard his father had a couple of hours ago; the one which displayed the still-unfamiliar look of foremost worry and utmost concern. A subtle sheen glazed his green eyes and a slight quiver presented itself at the corners of his mouth.

"Don't worry about the bus today, just get yourself dressed." Laguna said rather listlessly. "…I'll be driving you to school instead."

After his father's soft footsteps left for the outside of the room and the soft click of the door had permeated his ears, Squall moved towards the edge of the bed, got up slowly and began to fiddle with the clothes he had within his grasp.

At that moment, he felt like absolute crap.

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"_Is there anything you want to tell me?" _

A sigh escaped. The view of the traffic jam ahead wasn't a pleasing one to say the least, especially when it enabled a perfectly undesired opportunity for tell-all confessionals. Squall lowered his arm from resting on the window ledge.

"…W_ell?_"

The adolescent shifted again. "…Like what?" He weakly stalled.

"-Like what happened last night." Laguna answered in exasperation. "Please don't play dumb with me, you know better than that."

"…No, there's nothing." He blatantly lied. When the traffic cleared somewhat and the flow of cars moved once more, a wave of relief washed over Squall.

"…Squall," He addressed to his son, despite the fact that he was intensely focused on the road ahead. A pang of foreboding hit the said son as he looked over in trepidation.

"When I first found out that you were going out with Rinoa, to be honest, I was thrilled… well not for myself obviously, but still, just hear me out here. I thought that you would finally get yourself out of that rut you've seemed to be in for the past well…_uh_…past…_-Nevermind,_ let's just say long while."

Squall's eyebrows furrowed in confusion._ '…What's he getting at?'_

"Regardless of that… I did see a change, a quite surprising one actually. As of late, you seem to be getting more defensive, you're not sleeping very well, and dare I say it… you're getting a lot bolder. …But last night, it kind of put it all into perspective and that's what's been honestly scaring me. You're changing so fast and I can't seem to keep up anymore."

Laguna sighed briefly. "-Then again, maybe this is just an old man talking here. It's been so long since I've been your age that I can't quite remember if this is one of the things that all teenagers go through at some point. Either way, just promise me that you'll be cautious, okay? I don't want to ever lose you Squall _because…_ because I don't think that I could… handle something like what happened to your mother and sister all over again."

The passenger seat lightly creaked as its' occupant readjusted himself a little. Squall sat in pure disbelief at that moment, never had he seen this side of his father. It was the goofy, bumbling and light-hearted side which had always prevailed before, and not this serious, worried and vulnerable side. A couple of seconds later, the teenager took a moment to swallow what he'd just been told, and once it sunk in, he accordingly lowered his gaze.

"I've… really been an ass lately, haven't I?"

Judging from the muffled laughter, Squall assumed that his father was most-likely grinning ear-to-ear from his blunt comment. …Or perhaps it might have been due to the fact that he rarely said those kinds of things aloud.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Squall; you're more than entitled right now. Everyone has to go through a couple of rough patches as they get older in life, and right now, you're just experiencing another one of those patches."

"Hm."

"Good, now that that's settled, I have another question for you."

In idle curiosity, Squall tilted his head towards his father; almost overlooking the fact that he'd parked the car into one of the school parking lot's spots already.

"When you chose to ignore my question earlier, was it to leave Rinoa out of this?"

Now the teenager was completely thrown through a loop. For the umpteenth time this morning, his father had never ceased to amaze _and_ bewilder him. No longer capable of proper eye contact, Squall looked away. Another sigh escaped.

"…I thought that you were going to blame her for everything, and dismiss her like some bad influence." He admitted in a harshly subdued tone. "…That's why I didn't say anything."

Laguna let out a singular, mirthful chuckle. "I figured that much. You must _really_ care for her to do such a noble thing."

Instead of turning a violent shade of red like he thought he would after his father's remark, Squall simply nodded nonchalantly and tried his best to maintain some composure as he calmly opened the passenger door and left without so much as a sound.

As he neared the school's side entrance doors, Squall heard the undeniable crunching noises underneath his boots from trudging over the snow-sprinkled ground, but what he hadn't heard was the usual crackle of tires rotating over the same element-coated parking lot behind him. Hazarding a guess, he took a glance backwards.

Sure enough, as luck would have it, his father was still rooted in the same spot, only this time, he was sitting merrily with a bright, beaming grin through the windshield, looking as if he was in no hurry to move an inch forward any time soon. Squall swiveled his head back towards the school in front of him and groaned.

…So much for the serious and civil conversation with his father.

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Several minutes and trivial announcements later, Squall found himself in the school gymnasium, fully clad in his gym wear, ready to do nothing in particular. A genuine bored look was etched all over his otherwise sleepy features, and for the first time ever, he could have cared less about today's lesson. But sadly enough, the teacher thought otherwise as he approached him for Hyne-knows-what.

"Mr. Leonhart, I've been informed of Miss Heartilly's multiple day absence so I pulled a few strings and arranged a substitute partner for you." The teacher informed him oh-so-eloquently, making it blissfully aware that he didn't notice Squall's lack of interest altogether. "You'll be partnered up with Mr. Almasy for the next few days, so be on your best behavior. I don't want to see any trouble coming from you two, okay?"

Squall yawned and issued a void, "_Whatever."_

Then, if at all plausible, Seifer approached his previously-indifferent figure as if he was on cue. Drifting his sights upward in order to exchange the customary glares, Squall felt a reactive jolt course through his entire system and the intensity of his stare waver a fraction. Then, without hesitation, the blond seized this chance like there was no tomorrow.

"Are you _missing_ something Squally-boy?"

Squall gave him another cold, piercing look before his deflective counter. "No. …Why should I?"

"_Hm._ I don't know," Seifer elaborated sarcastically as they moved away from the others, "-maybe it's because your little partner isn't here, or dare I say_ girlfriend_?"

'_Ignore it, ignore it…_'

"…Not saying anything are we? Scared to admit that you actually care about someone for a change? Or are we just getting all touchy-feely?"

Squall clenched his jaw stiffly to prevent any sound from escaping.

"Admit it, I'm right. You've grown soft haven't you?" The taller adolescent jeered incessantly with a huge smirk growing wider and wider. "Well if that's the case, why don't you trade in that gunblade and maybe get something more appropriate like a… healing rod, _hm?_ Then you'd be able help all of us who can actually fight and stay on the sidelines!"

Right before Squall had even the notion to do something painful to Seifer, Mr. Janis mercifully cut in.

"Seifer, Squall, start warming up now!" The teacher shouted from across the floor. Seifer's smirk grew another fraction before he settled into a different look altogether, a look of ominous proportions.

"You ready to practice or do I have to warn the teacher that you'll need to visit the infirmary later on?"

Squall mirrored his dirty look back at him. "Just shut up and start, I'm tired of hearing your trap go on and on."

Always wearing the same smug look, Seifer slung his Hyperion over his shoulder and took a few paces backwards while Squall had swiftly geared himself into an offensive position, gripping his Revolver tightly and eyeing his opponent meticulously. He wasn't going to let him pull any fast ones now, not after the barrage of unsettling slurs he'd unleashed beforehand. Sooner than expected, Seifer broke the heated silence.

"So, I take it your offense, _lover boy?_"

Ignoring that last bit, Squall shot an irritated answer back.

"…What does it look like to you?"

"Fine, _what ever_ _you say_ _**Squally**…_"

Right after the last word had left his mouth, Seifer charged forward with a descending overhead strike, effectively catching him off-guard and leaving him no time to think. Luckily for Squall, his reflexes acted fast enough to crudely block the surprise attack with the broad side of his blade, but for some reason, Seifer wasn't transitioning into another attack as he kept on pressing his blade forward, leaving the other to put more force into his counter to keep it away from his already-scarred face.

"-What the **hell** are you doing?" The shorter of the two spat. A sadistic grin now formed on the other's face.

"Well, if you want to be on the offensive, you have to **earn** it. C'mon Squall, I dare you. _Try to **earn** it._"

'_Well, if you insist…_'

With one smooth movement, Squall deftly used Seifer's weight against him by suddenly halting his counter with a quick crouch down and out of the way. Then, when the blond stumbled forward as predicted, he swerved around to his unbalanced right side, hooked his opponent's legs with one of his own and tripped him with minimal effort.

…And unfortunately for Seifer, when Squall tripped him, he fell hard. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Squall had also made a point of the situation with _the_ point of his blade directly hovering inches over the back of his head.

"…So does that count, or do I have to make you bleed Seifer?"

Tilting his head slightly to talk, Seifer immediately responded. "I don't know, you tell_ **me-**_"

Within a fraction of a second, the once-thought defeated teenager had smartly turned the rest of his body sideways and sprung his right leg forward to hit a forceful and well-placed kick to Squall's shins, causing him to buckle slightly and lose the confining position he had him under. During the moment Squall had folded a little, Seifer lost no time and got back up. But even with his momentary advantage, he didn't capitalize on it. Instead, he just stood there with contempt.

"This is what happens when you underestimate me Leonhart, and don't you forget it."

Gritting his teeth somewhat, Squall returned to a normal standing position in hopes of not making the situation any more humiliating than it already was. Luckily for him, most of the class was still in their own little worlds, solely focusing on nothing other than their individual practicing and for that, he was thankful. However, when a shrill noise came from the teacher's whistle had diverted all of the attention, Squall was even _more_ thankful for that.

"Okay, that's enough practice for now, lets' start on something different! So everybody stop and come over here!"

Walking calmly as instructed, in spite of the minor aches flaring up near his soon-to-be-bruised shins, the blue-eyed teenager kept a close eye on his so-called partner; something didn't sit right in the pit of his stomach today.

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"So what the hell are we supposed to do _again?_"

Squall sighed. This was going to be the fourth and final time he'd attempt to repeat the teacher's first combination of the day to the inattentive blond; the little patience he had possessed before had already whittled down to non-existence in roughly two minutes. The sole factor for this depletion was because he _knew_ that Seifer was just playing stupid just to make things aggravating for him, but miraculously enough, that still wasn't the most infuriating aspect about the situation.

That particular award went to the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. The teacher wouldn't let him ignore him, nor would he let him tape his mouth shut.

"For the last time Seifer, the defensive combination starts off with a duck, and when the other guy stumbles, you get up fast and slide to the right, drop down, trip them and make sure they can't get away while they're on the floor."

Seifer snorted. "Okay… if that's what it is, then what's the point? You should be the first to know that it doesn't work."

Squall groaned in response; as much as he hated to admit it, he did have a valid point.

"I give up. …Take it up with the teacher, it's not _my_ problem."

"Nah, that'd take up too much effort on my part. Besides, a small _change _would fix the problem easy."

The shorter adolescent shot him a skeptical look.

"…What? Do you have a profound fear of not following what the teacher says or something? C'mon, even you know that this tripping shit doesn't work."

Squall rolled his eyes and distanced himself away from the crowd again. "…Whatever. Just get it over with."

After a second or two of preparation, they both were at their respective sides in the designated far corner, and waited to start this _practice_ of sorts.

"Okay," Seifer started to shout, "-start with the downward strike and go from there."

With one last grumble, Squall gripped the hilt of his weapon tighter and, without a single thought, he charged forward as told. Within a second, he had already raised his Revolver over his head just to bring it down swiftly near his opponent's head. However, it didn't connect since the broad side of Seifer's blade was blocking it from his face.

Then, a twinge of familiarity smacked him as hard as he fell when the blond stopped his counter and ducked down to the side – even more so when he suddenly felt trapped under a point of pain searing into his upper back.

"Works better now, wouldn't you say?"

'-_Don't let him win, there's a way out of this…there has to be._' The pinned teen mentally screamed with undying resolve. Although, after several uneventful moments later, his hope of escape was dashed as Seifer felt the redundant need of verbally pointing it out.

"Well, it looks like my little adjustment was a success since I haven't seen an attempt from you yet, or did you just stop trying because your little Rinny isn't here to back you up?"

Fueled on a mysterious charge that he didn't have before, while currently downplaying the fact that he had a blade dug into his back, Squall used all the grit and audacity he had to shift sideways until the blade was no longer at a confining angle. Then, when he was at a good position, he got up, smartly using the tip of his Revolver as a support.

Then, for the second time in a row, Seifer hadn't tried to take advantage of the situation as he simply stood there with yet another look of contempt.

"Well, I must give you some credit there Squall," He intoned sardonically, "I didn't think you had it in you to nearly mutilate yourself just to get out of that. The Squall I knew would have reluctantly drawn a line of reason back there."

Then, as if his words were the sole indicator, Squall finally registered the warmth and stinging of the blood sticking to the back of his now-airy shirt.

"Heh. Maybe I should mention your girlfriend more often. With reactions like these, who knows? Perhaps you'll give me more of a challenge."

Right after that taunt, something must have ultimately snapped inside of Squall's mind because next thing he knew, the taller teenager was somehow brought down to his height. Then, a fraction of a second later, he realized that it was his own hand gripped around some of his shirt which had dragged him down to his level.

"I've had enough Seifer, and I **_mean_** it." He hissed dangerously to his face. "I don't want to hear a single word about her come out from your mouth, nor do I want you to talk period. Got it?"

His grip loosened and Seifer was free to be at normal height again.

"Why should I? You don't own her."

Then, he was brought back down to Squall's height once more, now peering into the whites of his eyes.

"Because." He started off coolly, contrary to what his fierce grip was conveying. "…She's not here to defend herself."

This time, Squall didn't let go when the blond spoke.

"Squall, Squall, Squall…haven't you noticed that I wasn't _talking_ about her directly?"

The other teenager sharpened his glare. "…What do you mean?"

"I was only stating the fact that she _isn't_ here, nothing more." He answered as suavely as someone in his situation could be. "You're the one whose brain's going into overdrive imagining all these different insults towards her."

'_Damn, he's right…_'

"**_Fine._**" He grit through his teeth as he released him for the second time. "-Just don't piss me off."

Seifer smirked as he adjusted his collar. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Before anything else was said, or done for that matter, the shrill whistle went off again, signifying that they all gather near the teacher to learn the next technique. Although when both teenagers were over there, how everyone managed to miss the gaping, bloody tear on the back of his shirt was beyond Squall.

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After the teacher had shown them the specific movements for the new combination and after they all parted off to go and do them, Squall was relieved that the technique hadn't uncannily matched one of his previous tactics again. Instead, it consisted of a sideways block deflecting the according sideways slash, then it shifted into an upwards swipe to knock the other blade away, and then the defender went forward with an advancing side strike to the unguarded torso and back with another advancing strike delivered to the other side. It was simple, but effective if done properly. _If_ being the key word in that statement, since Seifer was starting off on that side in this particular combo.

"-Ready?"

Squall nodded.

No sooner had he done that, the Revolver-wielding teenager went forth with the first step, now aware of Seifer's penchant for starting quickly. As he moved forward with the first slash, he was pleasantly surprised by the lack of adjustments in his opponent's counter, as he opted to do exactly what they'd all been told to do.

During the next set of movements, Squall was once again amazed by his accuracy and technique in delivering the upwards and advancing strikes. Suddenly, a sharp pain to his side proved this new improvement false.

With a brief look downward, Squall saw a noticeable crimson blot outline a fresh, but shallow cut above the right side of his hip. Immediately, his attitude went south as he returned to his former position and gave his now-sedentary 'partner' an incredulous look.

"What the hell are you trying to achieve here?" Squall shouted acidly. "Are you deliberately trying to get me angry? Or is it that you _have_ no aim whatsoever?"

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Oh yes Squall, that's just it, I have no aim." He replied in an overly sarcastic and tired tone. "Even after all these years of wailing on you, the truth is that I have no hand-eye coordination at all… Maybe I should just trip over my own two feet while I'm at it… Hyne, can you seriously be _**that** _stupid?"

Squall maintained his stance although he was mentally berating himself right now.

'…_Smart move there, genius. Why didn't I notice the hints in his behavior earlier? Of course he was trying to provoke me! How stupid could I be to not notice that? Ugh…_'

"Going to open your mouth any time soon? I don't have all day you know."

"I don't owe you an answer Seifer. Lets' just continue practicing again, okay?" The shorter teenager retorted stiffly. "This time, _I'm_ the one on the defense."

The blond smirked. "You're not one to admit it when you've said something stupid, are you?"

The glare set in Squall's eyes intensified ten-fold. Following suit, Seifer's smirk did the same.

"I guess **_that's _**an answer in itself." He drawled smugly as he distanced himself in preparation.

After he took his final step backwards, Seifer had already started to run back towards his initial spot near Squall. As the taller teen unleashed his first side slash, the lack of intermittent time hadn't short-changed Squall as he countered it without fail. Then, despite the excessive force he used to follow through for the upward swipe and his uneven and ragged breathing thereafter, Squall had neutralized the rough edges in his performance and had achieved both advancing strikes without sign of any blunder or further injury. However, the same couldn't be said about the second time around as he completely missed his cue to block the first offensive swipe altogether.

Fortunately for Squall, the mishap had only grazed his bicep and hadn't affected him much when he continued with the next move, seeing as Seifer hadn't relinquished his advance afterwards – not that he had expected that much from him.

Although he'd redeemed himself by pulling off the last combo strikes in a respectable fashion to dearly compensate for his completely screwed-up beginning, the sporadically-injured teenager had noticed that he was once again going through the movements quicker than before, striking harder than necessary at times, with even his breathing coming in fast, irregular spurts despite his overall efforts in trying to regulate everything back to his usually-controlled state.

'_Why can't I seem to shake this… this…abnormality in my form? This isn't like me at all; it's not even the same sort of occurrence I used to get when I practiced with Rinoa-'_

'_Rinoa…' _

'_**Upward Swipe.'**_

'_Why can't I control myself anymore?_'

'**_Advancing Strike. Second Advancing Strike.' _**

'_Is it from this …seething feeling?'_

'_Wait, since when have I ever let myself get this angry?'_

'**_-Block. Upward Swipe!_'**

'_No! I am NOT losing my grip on this! **Not now!**_'

As his thoughts interjected themselves amid each and every move, his state increasingly worsened as he come to realize that his best attempts at regaining personal control were failing him indefinitely, especially when he knew that this all pointed to the same conclusion, one which he wanted to avoid. Then, if that wasn't enough, Squall noticed the particular presence of a new and unsettling glint emanating in Seifer's jewel-green eyes, which only meant one thing–

_He noticed this as well._

In an abrupt decision, based off of pure suspicion, Squall shifted his upwards strike into a two-handed high block using the broad side of his blade. Immediately, his suspicions were founded as his opponent brought down his blade exceptionally hard. As the sparks flew everywhere, Seifer's expression twisted into one of sadistic satisfaction.

"You're afraid that you've already lost your precious control, _**aren't you?**"_ He stated mockingly, clearly enjoying every moment as he watched Squall's face writhe with his previously-hidden anger. However, this was no where near the end of his self-indulgent jeers.

"Ashamed of letting your anger override your actions?"

"Embarrassed by your suppressed urge to give in to my provoking just so you can hurt me?"

After this verbal assault, Squall was twitching badly enough whereas he looked like it was taking all he had to keep a predominantly-neutral face.

"Give it up Squall, I'm right on _all_ accounts, and you know it. But don't you just _hate_ how I can get under your skin like th_at-_"

Then, just before the blond had finished, Squall had finally broke his personal silence.

"Stop it! You _know **nothing!**_" He snarled, slamming the other teen hard against the gym's concrete wall, not caring about the spectacle he was creating in the process. Seifer however, hadn't seemed fazed by this at all.

"No, I think I do know Squall." He affirmed coolly. "Piece by piece, your emotional self-control is slipping away from you and you hate the fact that it's far beyond your grasp. When I slashed your face, you lost it, when I said that you passed your exam only because you were doing stuff with Rinoa, you lost it, and right now, when I toyed with your head, you lost it again. Now, if you were in my position, what would that tell you?"

"…Absolutely nothing."

Seifer shook his head derisively. "Then why are you holding me against a wall?"

Squall slackened his hold on him altogether and took a large step backwards. He still maintained his glowering expression however.

"That's what I thought. But in case if it didn't get through your thick skull-"

Now it was Squall's turn to be slammed against the concrete wall. This time, however, had also involved a sickening thud.

"-The bottom line is that one day, your beloved strangle-hold over your emotions is going to go flying out the window and the strangest part about it is that you're going to like it, you're going to like it so much that you'll never want to go _b-_"

The blue-eyed teenager had cut him off brutally when he somehow managed to swap positions with him.

"_Take…it…back." _He growled between laboured breaths, keeping him immobile with his blade inches away from his throat.

"Now _why_ should I do that? You know for a damn fact that I'm right, you just can't admit it for some Hyne-forsaken reason that's beyond me."

Instead of folding like he did last time, Squall kept his position firmly…and _that's_ when Seifer pulled out his trump card.

"What about Rinoa then? Are you planning on being a cold and indifferent bastard to her too? Well, if that's the case then I don't know what the hell she sees in you… Not that you ever deserved her in the first place-"

A quarter of second later, Seifer was no longer pinned against the wall. Instead, he was momentarily staggering away from it, clutching the left side of his face with one hand as he held his gunblade with the other; he'd just been on the receiving end of one of Squall's punches.

After recovering from his initial bout of dizziness, Seifer had blindly swung his Hyperion in his rival's direction to create some distance and regain some lost leverage. However his plan hadn't worked since Squall hadn't jumped back to like he normally would have done. Instead, in a brave and potentially reckless move, he had ducked down to dodge it, got up and used his own blade to hit Seifer's towards the wall. The prolonged advantage Squall had over Seifer lasted until the latter had rushed forward and painfully connected with a right elbow, hitting him square in the nose, causing him to fall down backwards.

But if the prior events had indicated anything, his rival's advantage hadn't lasted long neither. When Squall used both of his legs to forcefully boot Seifer's, the momentum involved had pushed him back and had enabled Squall to get back up and regain his lost ground. At this point, they were both on an equal plane, no advantages to be seen or heard of.

At the same moment however, despite the leveled skirmish they were now facing, the stakes were immediately heightened when, out of the corner of Squall's peripheral vision, he caught the very interesting sight of the other people in the gym running to approach them, presumably to break up their fighting. Feeling deviated from his normal self, Squall did something he knew he was probably going to regret later on, but it was a something that still deemed necessary.

After he delivered a flurry of lightning-quick hacks, Squall had effectively forced a constantly-blocking Seifer past a rarely-used side door, spilling out into a virtually-abandoned, old and dusty hallway, temporarily ridding themselves of the others who threatened to impede on what still needed to be done.

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Following a full two seconds after they'd passed through the doors, the innate atmosphere of the area had changed for the worst with their presences, multiplying the established sense foreboding that the dingy, narrow corridor already had to offer. More specifically, this had occurred when Squall heard his own words spill freely from his mouth in a voice much unlike his own, ultimately setting the bar for what was to follow.

"Think you're going to get away with only a black eye after all the bullshit you put me through today? _Ha. Fat chance._ I'm not that forgiving."

As he finished his little outburst, he wasted no time to force Seifer down the hallway as steel clashed with steel. But as he pitted his forcible slashes against his antagonist's equally-formidable blocks, nobody was gaining any leverage by any means.

But then, one Squall's agile hacks had knocked the whole balance of things off, causing his opponent's previously-unscathed self to don a newly-carved gash along his left side, flecked with the minor presence his blood circling it. …Not that Seifer could have afforded the luxury seeing it as well as feeling it at this present moment. Instead, he unleashed a visibly pained horizontal swipe to shoo Squall away as he kept his free hand cradled over the open cut, and this time, he actually succeeded in sending him away.

However, the success hadn't lasted long as Squall ran back to close the gap, causing their blades to closely force against each other at mid-torso. Then, after the quick flick of his rival's wrist later, Squall found himself faced dangerously close to his perpendicular blade, threatened by the gruesome possibility that the blade would make short work of his jugular if he moved as much as a fraction closer.

Knowing he had the advantage, Seifer grinned evilly. "Watch your step Squall, the next one could be your last if you're not careful."

Just as Squall was about to back up to escape his confinement, Seifer shoved him into a wall right after he swiveled his blade so that it now pointed diagonally instead of ruler-straight. However the dangers hadn't lessened at this point since it was now his own blade which threatened to slice open his chest if he didn't exert a sufficient amount of force to keep it away from himself.

'_No… It can't…ugh…end…like…this…_'

In an act driven by the unprecedented amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins and carried out in pure daring, Squall impressively slid his frame towards the left in attempt to escape the hold. However, a hot, searing pain across his shoulder prevented him from getting out cleanly; his abrupt getaway had caused Seifer's blade to tear into his shirt and flesh in the process. But despite his newest injury, Squall had no option in his head but to press on. It wasn't like his adversary was going to stop the duel just to give him time to recover.

Soon after, his blatant common sense proved correct when he had to swiftly block his rival's charged diagonal swipe.

But regardless of his best efforts to maintain his counter, fighting started to prove more and more difficult for Squall. The fresh cut across shoulder had weakened his basic ability to hold his gunblade properly. Plus, seeing as it was a generally heavier weapon, the alternative methods he could explore were far and few in between. However…

A split-second later, the shorter teenager had rapidly ducked out of the way to swivel around to Seifer's backside and delivered a precisely-aimed boot to the back of his knees, triggering them to buckle and his five inch height advantage to disappear. Then, as he moved along with his recently-formed plan, Squall secured his blade near his opponent's throat.

"Had enough Seifer, or do I have to make you bleed some more?"

Despite his bleak position, Seifer still retained his cockiness to respond sardonically. "You never cease to surprise me Leonhart. Before, you never would have struck me as the bloodthirsty type. Or did you let your inhibitions go?"

"…No." He replied tersely in a tone reminiscent of his normal behavior.

Then, out of nowhere, Squall heard a different a strange new voice altogether, a _female_ voice.

"…**_Squall?" _**

He turned back with a single irrational thought running through his head. '_…Is that you Rinoa?_'

Once he'd seen nothing but the dark and empty hallway, he turned his head back. Then, it was at that very moment that he'd realized that he'd unwittingly let go of Seifer when he had carelessly let himself try to find the source of the voice.

'**_WHACK!_'**

Suddenly, Squall's entire world turned black.

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"**_He's your responsibility, it was your class! You shouldn't have paired him up with Seifer Almasy if you knew that they had a volatile history with each other!"_**

"**_Well how was I supposed to know that they were going to do that? I had explicitly told them at the beginning of class not to pull any thing funny."_**

"**_They're teenage boys for God sakes! They don't always listen to authority you know!"_**

"…_**Fine. But, what do we do about this?"**_

"_**The only thing we can do."**_

"**_You mean…?"_**

"_**-Precisely."**_

After slowly rousing from his slumber in a colourless and sterile environment, which had undeniably belonged to the infirmary, the sound and shadows of two men squabbling on the other side of the closed divider curtains had immediately caught Squall's attention, namely because they were talking about him and what had happened today. The bed-ridden adolescent felt his throat burn as he took in a gulp of air.

Followed by a few moments of unnatural silence, the divider curtains had opened and a sole figure had emerged through them.

It was Mr. Janis. His facial expression looked visibly marred with an undertone of shame and mass quantities of guilt as he approached his bedside. Squall let his eyes open a sliver more.

"…I take it you heard some of that didn't you?" The dark-haired teacher inquired rather somberly. The teenager nodded back quietly.

"Well then, I might as well get this over with quickly. As of today, you've been officially… released from my class."

Squall bolted upwards. "…What?"

"Trust me Squall, I didn't want to release you from my class but… the school principal feels that you and Seifer pose too much of a threat to the well-being of the other students in the class and to yourselves to stay enrolled in it."

The teenager gave him a look of disbelief. "But…_how…why_ are we both getting kicked out when Seife_r–_"

"–It's because you had the power to stop when you continued. I understand your argument but, the principal doesn't want to keep '_emotionally unstable_' students in the S.D class with all of the potential dangers involved and… since it's been the third time that something like this has happened between you and Seifer, can you really blame him?"

"No, I guess not." He sighed. "But…what will happen to Rinoa?"

"There's a more than likely chance that she'll be assigned to Seifer's former partner."

After a few moments had passed, the teenager kept his silence when the teacher finally left through the materiel divide just as Dr. Kadowaki came through it from the other side. After she'd taken a quick glance at the clipboard present in her hands, the good doctor started reciting his current condition.

"Okay, I've looked after all of your wounds Mr. Leonhart and I am most certain that none of them will leave any noticeable scars. However, with that being said, I expect you to take good care of yourself and to _take it easy _for once, you understand?"

"…Yes ma'am."

"Good, then after you've changed into your regular clothes which are in that bag your instructor put on the nightstand over there, you are free to leave for the office where your father and the principal are waiting for you. I'll just leave you to change now."

"…Okay."

After Dr. Kadowaki had left, Squall proceeded to slide off of the side of the infirmary bed and take off the torn excuse of a gym shirt he had on now for what was going to be the last time. As he laid it on top of the pure white mattress, he couldn't help but notice the large patches of dried blood, rips and just about every stupid little imperfection that today's mess had caused. All of a sudden, he couldn't look at it anymore, and opted to focus his energy on searching through his bag to find his untainted set of clothes. Two seconds later however, he failed miserably. He had looked back.

'_Dammit Seifer, I shouldn't have let you get to me…_'

Shortly after he got back to the task at hand, Squall found his clean set and had changed into it in no time. Then, once everything had been put away and he was ready to leave, he took a moment to sit down on the bed's edge.

'_Rinoa… this would have never happened if you could have been here. Hyne, I don't know how am going to explain this one to you …or to anybody for that matter. This wasn't like me at all…'_

Then, without warning, he flopped down on top of the mattress and therapeutically covered his eyes with his hands.

'_Two more days…just two more days._'

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**End of Chapter Comments **– Okay, it's been a _very_ long time since I've written a proper fight sequence so I hope that it had worked out nicely. But if it didn't, or if anything's bugging the hell out of you guys, just tell me in a review. Actually, now that I think about it, it's been awhile since I've put out a 7000 plus chapter, hasn't it? …Or since I've actually …um… _updated _for that matter.

_Uh, you can ignore that… _

-Emerald-Latias


	12. Chapter XII – Misery Loves Compromise

**Author's Notes **– Although I have stated in the past that I would have a 3 to 1 balance of Squall and Rinoa chapters, I really need to keep this one a Squall-centric one because of the prior events, so it'll be the next one that'll be Rinoa-centric. Sorry about that!

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**Chapter XII – Misery Loves Compromise**

She lied. The damn doctor had lied to him. His father and the principal weren't here to see him and discuss the situation. _Hell,_ they weren't anywhere to be seen in the first place. The only things there to be seen were the walls, desks and chairs in the stupid detention room across from the secretaries' office for Hyne's sake.

No wait, now he was the one who'd lied. The only things there to be seen were the walls, desks, chairs and a sitting Seifer in the strangely-unsupervised detention room. …And by the looks of things, it appeared as if somebody had lied to him as well. Five seconds later, when the blond finally acknowledged his presence from the far side of the room, he gave him a reproachful look.

"Pull up a chair and sit down. You're going to be here for awhile."

Grabbing the closest chair to the doorway, Squall sat down, assuming that Seifer actually knew what he was talking about for once. Then, just after he'd done so, he broke the silence once more.

"Just in case if they didn't tell you, they've already decided that we're going to be stuck here for three days straight for an internal suspension. Hope you like sitting Leonhart."

Squall arched an eyebrow and gave him a perplexed stare. "…Why are you assuming that they didn't tell me?"

"Because the stupid look on your face was screaming, '…_Why did they make me go here? I don't belong here. I'm supposed to be the good little student with the spotless record…Oh no, it can't be!_'."

The other teenager rolled his eyes.

"You're right, my record _isn't_ spotless anymore, how insightful of you to notice that." Squall intoned sarcastically. "But just for future reference, if you happen to have the urge to say something else, try to make it relevant for once."

Seifer reclined on his chair and leisurely put his feet on the desk in front of it, with his hands behind his back and a smug smirk plastered on his lips.

"I would, but if I mentioned your girlfriend again, I think that you'd go into another hissyfit and get us both expelled."

Squall let out the breath he was holding and nothing more, quickly followed by a quick turn of his body to face the other direction.

'_If I can ignore him, I'll be fine and I'll survive this…' _

'_Still… how am I going to kill the next four hours with nothing to distract myself?_'

Minutes later, a perfect little distraction hit him. More specifically, it had hit the side of his head. Looking down to his left, Squall saw an enormous paper airplane lying there with its' nose dented. When he noticed some writing present on one of the wings, it triggered a thought he'd rather avoid right now, reminding him of another time someone had thrown a paper airplane to catch his attention, although it had hit his shoe and not his head that time.

Breaking out of his brief stupor, Squall picked up the piece of crudely folded paper and humoured its' maker, conveniently killing some time without resorting to thinking himself to insanity.

Following a quick unfolding, the numerous scrawls on the thing read,

_Having fun yet? I bet you are. I know that you're going to waste away the minutes shamelessly pining away for she-who-shall-remain-nameless and thinking about all the ways you could tell her about how you screwed up big time and how you were a weak-minded, emotional sissy who couldn't endure a little teasing. Oh wait, sheisn'there. I guess you'll have plenty of time to think that one over. _

After his eyes finished skimming over the contents of the ill-intentioned letter, Squall looked back to face its' author who seemed pleasantly surprised with his own handiwork.

"If this another hare-brained attempt to get me angry, don't bother. You're not going to get another reaction out of me, and I'm not in the mood to put up with any more crap. Go find another way to get yourself expelled."

Shortly thereafter, he tossed the heavily-wrinkled paper aside and turned his head once more.

"_Don't act as if **you're** the only one who has problems."_

Unfortunately for Squall, the words that just came from his rival's mouth made it hard for him to stick with his original plan to face the other way.

He turned around with a largely unsympathetic look. "…Did you happen to forget that it was **_your_** fault that we ended up in this situation, or does being too stupid to stop provoking me not count?"

Seifer let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah right, like it was completely _my _fault. _You_ were the one who continued the fight into that hallway. If you would have stopped when everyone was coming near, we wouldn't have been kicked out."

"–And you were too incompetent to try and stop me? **_Ha._** That's a lie if I've ever heard one. Just by the lengths you went just to piss me off, I could tell that you wanted this to happen. So what was the occasion _this_ time?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, I have my own reasons." the taller teenager coolly retorted. "Besides, the worst-case scenario I thought of was a suspension, not that we'd get kicked out _and_ suspended."

"…So _that's_ your excuse? You thought we'd only get suspended at the worst? Somehow, I fail to see the validating logic behind that."

"–You fail to _see?_ It seems like you fail to see a lot of things if you ask me."

"…Whatever, I don't care."

Squall turned the other way, but something stopped him from doing so comfortably. It wasn't distracting words like the last time; it felt more like a physical presence lingering near his back, and seeing as it could have been only one person, Squall blatantly ignored him. But when his presence came close enough so that he could feel hot angry breaths raining down his back, the sitting teenager's resolve caved just enough to get up. Now, from either side of his chair, they locked eyes, exchanging equally-charged glares.

"When I said that you should stop acting like you're the only one who has problems, I meant it."

Keeping his ground, Squall remained silent, now eying Seifer with an apathetic look. Apparently, this was not the reaction Seifer expected, or wanted for that matter.

"You cost me my only chance at graduating this year Leonhart." he growled coldly. Meanwhile, Squall's expression stayed unsympathetic.

"I don't care if I cost you _anything_ Seifer. If you wanted to graduate so badly, you shouldn't have been playing with fire." he spat, matching his rival's tone perfectly. "And unless you want to screw up your chances to graduate _next_ year, I suggest that you leave me alone and sit pretty for the next couple of hours. _Got it?_"

Before anything else happened, their collective sights turned towards the presence of another person near the doorway.

"Squall! Seifer! What are you two doing in here?" Dr. Kadowaki barked sternly. Squall gave her a quizzical look while Seifer put on yet another smirk.

The blond feigned a melodramatic pose. "What, we _weren't_ supposed to be here?"

The doctor didn't look amused at all. "You _know_ that I had explicitly told you that the principal wanted to see you in his office."

"Yeah, but what's the point? Janis already told me that we both have a three day internal suspension for dangerous conduct and the principal would have only said the same thing, so what's the harm in skipping the unnecessary hassle?"

Dr. Kadowaki gave Seifer a sharp look just as Squall's expression deepened.

"If you wouldn't have skipped the '_unnecessary hassle', _you would have found out the _actual_ extent of your punishment." she said firmly. Then, she turned towards Squall. "-And judging by your expression, I'd say that you didn't see the principal either,_ did you?_"

"…No."

"How come?"

"When I went in, the principal wasn't there and a secretary told me to go in here. …So I just did what I was told."

"_Fair enough._ Well you might as well go to the office now; the principal and your father are waiting for you there. In the meantime, you're coming with me Seifer."

Squall nodded and left without a sound. Maybe the doctor _hadn't_ lied to him after all.

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As he entered the principal's office, the sight of the displeased authority figure sitting behind his massive oak bureau was practically impossible to avoid. With the two extra chairs placed in front of the desk and the multiple filing cabinets lining the walls, the severely-cramped office could have easily been a delinquent claustrophobic's worst nightmare.

"Please take a seat Squall." the principal instructed. The teenager did as he was told. "Sorry for the wait Mr. Loire, there was some confusion on the part of my secretaries."

"…No problem."

A split-second later, when Squall used his peripheral vision to take a quick glance at his father, he noticed that the older man looked kind of lost and strangely curious.

"I understand that you took time out of your busy schedule at work to be here, but I assure you that it was for an important reason-"

At that moment, Squall felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"-and I'm genuinely sorry to say this but-"

The sinking feeling worsened just as an additional migraine was now relentlessly hammering away at his temples. Worst of all, it felt like the room turned into a confining sauna, causing his body to heat up at an alarming rate.

"-your son had-"

As the agonizing seconds passed at a crawling pace, the mere thought of looking at his father became all the more impossible. With his mind constantly going over the current situation, he just couldn't fathom it anymore, not after the talk they had in the car, not after what he'd foolishly done, after he'd…lost control…

"-another confrontation with Seifer Almasy in the Self Defence and Weaponry class. This time, if it hadn't been stopped, the altercation could have lead to some severe injuries, if not life-threatening."

"…**_What?_**"

Now the room's temperature abruptly dipped to an all-time low; Squall felt the colour drain from his face and his heart stop, he heard the cold edge to the principal's otherwise-grim tale of events and saw his father's frozen expression when he listened to those last words. Although he was tempted to bury his head in his hands, Squall kept still and strained himself to maintain the unfazed façade he'd been previously sporting.

Laguna's face turned sideways. "…Is this true Squall?"

His father's question didn't help his growing urge to hide and cover his face any. The adolescent upheld his silence.

"Squall… say _something_. Is this true or _not_?"

'_Of course it is! You wouldn't be here if it wasn't, now would you?_' he mentally screamed. '_Hyne…you're not the only one in denial over this…_'

"Mr. Loire," the principal cut in, "-there was no mistake in my statement. Your son did have another confrontation with Seifer Almasy. But if you still do not believe me, ask the teacher or any of the other students present in that class today and they will all say the same thing."

With his thumb thoughtfully placed underneath his lips and his head bent, the older man looked like he was in a world of his own for a moment or two.

"_Hm…_" he lifted his head back up. "Well…I guess that I can't argue against that, but… what I want to know is _why_ this 'confrontation' started in the first place. _That,_ I can't quite understand."

Squall felt another jolt in his stomach. _'Does the principal know or is he expecting me to fill in that blank?'_

The authority figure remained silent, shifting to face him eye-to-eye. Squall cringed at his intense hazel-eyed stare, already knowing what he was going to be forced to do next.

"Squall, would you care to answer your father's question?"

'_No.'_

"…What's the point?" the adolescent replied uncooperatively, avoiding any possible eye contact, "…I already did what I did. Words won't change anything."

Despite the annoyed look that threatened to emerge, the principal forced an insincere smile.

"Regardless of your view on the matter, the source of this outburst does carry some significance in the current situation."

"…How so?" he contested. Right after, Squall thought he heard an overly-disappointed sigh coming from the side.

The principal's previously-hidden look of annoyance finally broke through. "Squall… don't try to turn the questioning onto me; it's not the time or the place to do so. Please answer the question."

The muted atmosphere blanketed the room once more as Squall deliberately cemented his mouth shut. After a minute or two had slowly trickled by, the teenager realized that his silence would be short-lived if he judged by the disciplinary figure's bulging vein on his right temple or by the small nudges his father seemed to be giving him periodically.

It was at this point where the silence finally broke.

"Mr. Leonhart," the principal said sternly, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to tell you this, but, if you don't explain the cause of your actions today, you risk receiving a much more severe punishment than I had originally planned. I understand that you are a good student but with these numerous predicaments you seem to get yourself involved in, I am starting to question that truth. I am doing you a favour by asking about your side of the story, please don't waste it."

Squall let out a sigh.

'_I guess that there's no escaping this now…_'

'_Maybe I can get away with a short answer.'_

'…_It's worth a try I suppose.'_

"He had provoked me."

The principal's face lit up in a peculiar manner, almost as if he'd expected him to keep on playing hardball. However, this expression of surprise didn't last long.

"Yes… Mr. Janis did inform me of something of that nature beforehand. …Could you please elaborate on that?"

'_Damn, it didn't work…Looks like… well, it looks like I'd better get started then…_'

"The provocation was…on several levels."

"Go on…"

Squall cleared his throat uncomfortably. "He… had taunted me, been uncooperative and unnecessarily reckless in practice movements to deliberately inflict injuries, and was generally doing everything in his power to aggravate me with any method at his disposal."

Seeing the disbelief present in Mr. Porpin's eyes and his father's eyebrows disappear into his hairline was almost relieving in a strange way. But regardless of this odd relief permeating his mind, Squall silently stood by what he had said earlier and that was the fact that no amount of words would ever change what he had already done.

"Presuming that what you've said is true so far," the principal started, "I can say that, without a doubt, I have a much better understanding of the situation now. _However,_ this still does not excuse the fact that you took aggressive measures when this could have resolved this in a more peaceful manner-"

'…_Then what was the point of forcing me to say anything if that's what you were going to tell me regardless?_'

"-so the three day suspension will remain, however it'll be an external suspension instead _if_ this alternative sounds reasonable with your father. Mr. Loire, are you still with us here?"

After the principal's statement, Laguna looked like those words gave him a much-needed jolt to his unusually-sedated form.

"…_Okay with me?_" he repeated quizzically. "–Um, pardon me asking _but…_ was that why I was called to come here instead of getting this all told over the phone like last time?"

"…Partially." the authority figure responded coolly, looking as if he'd pulled the ace out of his sleeve prematurely. "I had a feeling that something like this was the root of it, and I just needed to hear it for myself. In addition to that, I'm sure that this situation warranted much more than a quick phone call, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess you're right there…But either way, I have no problems with Squall getting the external suspension instead, he can leave with me right after this …if that's what you had in mind."

"Excellent. Then it's all settled." Then, he shifted his regard from Laguna to Squall. "Squall, before you leave the school with your father, I think it would be wise to go to your other classes to collect the work for the next three days."

Squall nodded right before he rose from his seat and left the room with his father.

'_Somehow… I doubt that my homework will be my biggest problem here._'

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During the entire trip home, no words were exchanged, absolutely none at all. Laguna gripped his hands firmly to the steering wheel, eyes strictly focused on the road ahead, and his expression visibly blank and emotionless. No frowns, disappointed glares or bulged veins to be seen. …And strangely enough, Squall would have preferred his father having any, if not all of those things on his face, or maybe a senseless tirade indirectly shouted at the windshield for his stupidity. At least it would have been easier to handle than this unbearable silence.

Afterwards, when they'd gotten to the house and his father had stopped the engine, Squall hesitated to unbuckle his seatbelt. Instead, he looked over at the driver's seat, waiting for something to occur.

It never happened. Laguna simply tossed him a single key from the numerous that his keychain held and told him to go in the house right before adding that he still had to go back to work.

Getting out of the car, Squall circled around the front end, and seconds later, fumbled around with the key while the crackle of the car reversing out of the driveway effectively occupied his mind. Then, the crackling stopped for an instant.

He turned back.

And yet… he saw nothing but the mottled landscape.

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An hour later, Squall found himself slouched against the headboard of his bed. Surrounded by untouched books and haphazardly-drawn lesson sheets, he fiddled aimlessly with the buttons on his cell phone. The blank screen glared evilly at him as a paralysing lethargy gripped him tightly.

…_What to do?_

Lifting himself up by his hands, he chose to free himself from the bedspring prison. As he gently placed his feet on the carpet, the lingering scent of pungent copper caught his attention once again. He voluntarily buried his face with his hands and flopped backwards onto the bed. This hurt him even more.

A mere second passed before he decided to get up, haphazardly gather some clean clothes in his hands and head out of his room and towards the adjacent bathroom.

Once inside, Squall put the set down on the counter space beside the sink to fish out a clean towel from the cupboards underneath. It was empty. Then, he turned to face the opposing wall, now sifting through the scarcely-used bathroom cabinet and luckily found what he was looking for.

Right after he turned around once to get the clothes, his attention dragged downwards when his feet were caught on a portion of a sizeable pile of his previously-discarded clothes. He looked up and met up a crimson-flecked reflection of himself in the mirror. Horrified, he peered down at his hands. Strangely enough, they were untainted, no blood to be seen.

Overwhelmed by dizziness, Squall put his right hand against the wall for support and took in a few deep breaths. Feeling brave after a few stabilizing breaths, he glanced at the mirror again. This time he saw no crimson marring his face. He closed and reopened his eyes firmly, still no blood.

"I must be losing it…" he tersely mumbled to no one in particular, now in the process of bringing the mountain of discarded clothes in his room to put them in his hamper.

Moments before he accomplished that task though, the scent of copper struck his nostrils suddenly and he dumped the load onto his bed and sat beside it, rubbing his temples thoroughly.

'_Three showers later, and I'm still plagued with this stupid coppery smell of blood. Hyne, there's not a trace on me and I still smell like I did during the fight._'

'_This has to got to be in my head, that and the muffled noise I keep on hearing…Wait a minute-_'

Squall tossed some of the clothes onto the floor and unearthed his cell phone which, was indeed the one emitting the muffled noise. He put it to his ear immediately and caught the speaker in mid-sentence.

"_-Is somebody there, hello?"_

"…Hello?_"_

"…_Squall, is that you?"_

"…Who else could it be?"

"_Ha. Ha. Very funny Squall."_ she chided playfully._ "So… what did you call for? Sorry for sounding rude but I have to-"_

"-I didn't call you Rinoa. I thought you were the one calling me."

"_No… I didn't call you. It's still school hours, I know better than to call you now._"

As Squall sighed away from the receiver, seconds elapsed noiselessly.

"…_Squall, are you still there?_"

"…Yes."

"_You alright? You sound a little depressed._"

"No, I'm fine." he lied.

"_That's good. So do you think I can … call you later? I have to go on this sight-seeing tour and I'm not allowed to bring my cell and my father wants to leave soon-_"

"-It's no problem, I understand."

"_Really? Thank you Squall. So is there any particular time that's convenient for you?_"

"Doesn't really matter."

"_Okay then, bye._"

'**-_Click! Beep. Beep. Beeep…_'**

'_Bye…_'

With that, Squall simply shut off the phone tossed it aside and plopped backwards onto the mattress. Minutes later, he fell effortlessly into a much-needed nap.

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After an uneventful night, Squall woke up groggily the next morning. The fact that the suspension allowed him to wake up later hadn't really mattered since slumber was so scarce for him that if he added all of the little fragments of sleep he got, it would have only obtained four hours tops – and that was including his afternoon nap.

Eyelids drooping, he somehow managed to stagger downstairs to the living room and collapse onto the teal couch. With the flick of his thumb, the television turned on and the early-morning news materialized onto the screen. He lied down and closed his eyes. The background noise helped immensely to create the illusion of life in the otherwise-lifeless house.

Suddenly, the soothing sounds of life springing from the television mellowed to an eerie silence.

"Squall, did you sleep any last night?"

The adolescent opened his eyes and shifted his position brusquely; it was his father dressed in a grey business suit with the remote in his right hand and a small briefcase in his left. The briefcase was set down when a '_…No.'_ was the reply.

"Would you be okay if I made an appointment then?"

"…Go ahead. I'm getting tired of this myself."

The corners of Laguna's lips tugged upwards. "Now that you said that, I'll _definitely_ make that appointment."

Squall gave him a sceptical look. "…What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

A small chuckle escaped. "It means that I'd better schedule that appointment because you're probably more exhausted from this insomnia than you think."

"…And what's making you think that?"

"You made a terrible pun earlier without even realizing it."

After a second or two, Squall finally figured out what he was talking about and cringed.

'_Sure, only you would think of that…_'

"Glad to see that I can still make you smile kiddo."

Squall rolled his eyes and turned the other way.

"_-Then remind me of the next time you can't."_ he murmured near-silently to himself.

Laguna let out another mirthful chuckle. "Ah, it's good to see that some things will never change, _huh Squall?_"

"…Yeah, I suppose."

The older man took a seat on the couch. Then, Squall gave him a quizzical look.

"Is there something wrong? You actually answered me without a '_whatever_' this time."

'_Of course, I feel like I'm half-dead._'

He looked away. "…Nothing, I'm just tired."

"Hm, that's funny. Usually, you're good for a _'whatever'_ or at least a _'leave me alone'_ no matter how tired you are. Actually, I remember this one time where you told me off in your sleep-"

"_-I get the point." _Squall interjected acidly.

"Okay, okay… But **_is_** there something wrong?"

"No."

Laguna crossed his arms in an exaggerated manner. "You _do_ realize that you're getting worse and worse at lying to me, right?"

The teenager rolled his eyes again. '_Crap…_'

"-So I'm going to ask this again. Is there something wrong?"

Squall sighed in exasperation. "…It's yesterday that's bothering me. Happy now?"

"Very." Laguna replied humorously, "Now, do I have to ask why that is or is it safe to make an assumption here?"

"…Say whatever you want, I don't really care."

"Okay then. Can I say that it's normal to get angry?"

Squall raised an eyebrow. "…I thought you were trying to figure out why yesterday bothered me."

"Oh, I already know why, I just wanted to humour you."

"Wonderful…"

"Squall, can you please cut the sarcasm just for this morning? I really don't have the time for it."

Surprisingly enough, Squall had nothing to add for this comment.

"Good. Now, would you believe me if I said that I'm not as disappointed as you might think?"

"No."

"Why is that then?"

"Because."

"_Because…?_"

"Because I… screwed up."

Now it was Laguna's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Why do you say that?"

The weight of his own words floating in his head felt heavy enough to permanently anchor him to the carpet.

"It was my fault that this happened. I let the provoking get into my head and let it control what I did. I was no better than Seifer back there."

"You didn't listen to me earlier Squall; I already told you that getting angry is normal. I'm not saying that doing what you did was right, but, if you don't stop blaming yourself for acting human, then nobody will ever be able to help you there."

"Hm."

It was at this point where Laguna got up and reached for his suitcase. "Well…I really have to go to work now. Do you want me to bring anything back for later?"

"No."

"Okay then, see you at supper time."

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The morning had passed rather slowly for Squall. After catching an extra hour of sleep at best, he went upstairs and started the homework given to him for the suspension. However, his slow, lagging and distorted sense of time shattered when his cell phone rang, and at the same time, realized that it was two-thirty in the afternoon.

"…Hello?"

"_Hi Squall, it's me._"

It was Rinoa.

"_Listen. Can you do me a big favour?_"

"…Maybe. Depends on what it is."

"_Open your front door._"

Without so much as a word, Squall curiously got out of his room, down the hallway and stairs and walked towards the door and opened it.

A huge hug was the reward for his compliance.

"Rinoa, what are you doing here?" he asked in mid-hug.

In that instant, Rinoa's body felt twice as warm.

"My trip…er…um… ended early."

"Oh."

Her hug ended abruptly.

'_Something feels off here…'_

"Um, so…did anything happen at school while I was away?"

Squall felt a pang of guilt. '_Guess there's no avoiding this now…_'

"Rinoa…"

'_Better let her down easy…_'

"…Yes?"

"…I'm not in the S.D class anymore."

Rinoa's face retorted into an expression of pure confusion and disbelief.

"What do you mean by that?" she inquired, voice slightly faltering near the end.

He sighed. "I was… kicked out of the class for fighting with Seifer again."

"…_What in Hyne's name did he **do** to you?_"

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Sorry for the long wait and hurried ending, I'm a little pressed for time because I'm leaving for a two-week trip in a matter of hours. Hope you liked it. See you in a while!

-Emerald-Latias


	13. Chapter XIII – A Home No More

**Author's Notes – **Aah! Who knew that juggling two stories could be so difficult? Well, I'm learning the hard way and I suppose that I'll just have to do my best to catch up. So, on that note, I'd better get started here. This chapter is Rinoa-centric by the way. Cheers.

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**Chapter XIII – A Home No More**

"…_What in Hyne's name did he __**do**__ to you?_"

Her own words rang through her ears, piercing them like bullets. Hasn't he suffered enough? Hasn't he seen enough bad days, misfortunes and unlucky moments? No, she thought to herself, life doesn't deal fair cards, only the hands that make things complex, simplicity doesn't go hand in hand with humanity. They both knew that lesson far too well by now.

When the silence nestled itself comfortably into the surroundings, Rinoa had no choice but to end the stillness. She closed the growing gap between them and embraced him once more, holding him more closely than ever. In his apparent time of need, this was the only thing she had to offer; her undivided love and attention.

Through the material of his shirt, she could feel his rapid heartbeat; resting her head against his chest, she could hear his quieted breath and sense the tickle down her spine. It was at this moment that time chose to stand still, and where she could slowly, but surely start to appreciate his arms gently wrapping themselves around her back, fully reciprocating her actions. It was almost reminiscent of the first hug he'd given her; of the first time he bared his soul to her.

His actions had spoken louder than words then and they did the same today. He was broken, far more broken than words could ever describe. And for this, she held him tightly.

"…_It's going to be alr-_" Rinoa stopped herself, opting not to finish her sentence.

'_No, I'm not going to say it. He doesn't need to hear things that I can't guarantee._'

'_If only I could though…_'

Suddenly, Rinoa felt the warmth leave her arms as Squall jerked backwards. It was almost as if he never realized that he'd been in that position until that moment.

Her arms instantly recoiled. "Did I hit something?"

Before any sort of reply was given, Rinoa thought that there was a certain air of uneasiness surrounding him, but couldn't quite figure out what made her get that idea in the first place. In the barren entranceway in which they stood, his eyes seemed a little too clouded, his expression a little too sedate, and his tone of voice a little too void of any lifelike nuance.

"No. The infirmary healed all of the wounds, so there wasn't anything to hit."

"Ah."

An awkward moment ensued thereafter.

"Do you…" Rinoa fidgeted slightly, mouth opening and closing in a hesitant attempt to speak. The words on her tongue faltered and failed to make themselves born, dying at the crucial moment. "Nevermind…"

After looking away momentarily, the very sight of him suggested that she continue; the light intrigue melding itself within his stare, the minute, but significant slant forward in the way he stood, and his overall body language betraying what his mind was trying to possibly mask with silence. Maybe it was safe to say it now.

"Do you still hurt?"

The curiosity previously hidden in his eyes was brought into broad daylight. "…Physically?"

"No," Rinoa answered softly, "Mentally."

He turned his head to the side. A faint grumble was heard.

"_Yes._"

"_Did you…_want to talk about it?"

The curiosity vanished within a blink of an eye and was replaced by a glacial sheen.

"No. There's nothing **to** talk about." he countered defensively. "-Nothing else needs to be said, there's no need to know anymore than you already do."

In spite of his volatile tone, Rinoa didn't withdraw. '_He's not going to like me for this, but I have to try and get it out of his system. Something just doesn't fit right here, his answers are too short._'

"Squall… please, there's got to be something that happened. I know that you wouldn't fly off the handle for nothing."

Squall's bitter expression deepened. "It was Seifer. Do I have to say more? That's what happened. He pissed me off and I lost it. End of story."

"He used something against you, didn't he?"

"He…"His facial features softened. "He used _you_ against me."

She stood there, slightly transfixed. '_Why does Seifer have to act all bitter now? We broke up two summers ago. Shouldn't that be considered ancient history by now?_'

"What… kind of things did he say about me?"

Squall looked up rather sheepishly. "Nothing. Most of the time, he was only pointing out the fact that you were gone and," His voice lowered, along with his head. "…_I was a fool_ _to let it get to me._"

'_Oh Squall…_'

"-_Ooof!_" Rinoa nearly suffocated the poor boy with a life-crushing hug. Thankfully for him, she let up a little.

"_I'm here now._" she whispered delicately into his ear. Afterwards, she moved her arms that encircled his back ever so slightly so that his own weren't so awkwardly pinned to his sides by his elbows. However, once she had moved her arms downward, she had to let go altogether; he was wincing in pain.

"_Squall," _Her flat, reproachful voice was filled with concern. "I thought you said that the infirmary healed you completely. If that's supposed to be true then why did you shudder? Tell me the truth."

Squall let out a slow, taxing breath. "I lied. The infirmary only made sure that the wounds wouldn't scar much. I still have some minor shooting pains. I didn't want to worry you."

A grim expression tugged at the corners of her lips and eyes.

'_Dammit Squall, why are you hiding things from me?_'

"How badly did Seifer hurt you?"

His ears perked up. "_…What do you mean by?_"

"-Like the kinds of things he did to you physically. Things like cuts, bruises, stuff like that."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Do I need a reason Squall? I want to know what really happened there, why you two did what you did. And I thought _that_…if you told me about your injuries, you'd start talking about the whole picture, about why it started, how it went down and give me some proper closure so that I can understand the reason why I can't see you during first period anymore and…_ Oh Hyne, this is all just-_"

Finally, the reality of it all cascaded on top of her like a heavy rainfall. "_-too much. I can't take it all in right now. The things that happened on my trip, and now this. …It's all short-circuiting my brain."_

Now it was Squall's turn to play the investigator. "_…Things on your trip?_ Rinoa, what happened?"

The things that she accidentally blurted out earlier had only clicked in now.

'_Oh no… What did I say?_'

"What happened? Oh,_ uh… _the fact that we got there late and came home early. I was having fun _and wanted to stay but the…_ arrangements fell through and I was unhappy that I had to cut it short when… _I was having fun._"

Squall crossed his arms. "At least I had the decency to tell you the truth when you confronted me. I think it would be nice if you did the same."

Rinoa lowered her head. "…Was it _that_ obvious?"

"You were speaking far too fast and repeating yourself, anyone could have seen through that."

"_I see…_" She kept her head down, now trembling slightly.

Suddenly, warmth spread throughout her body as she found herself in yet another embrace, initiated by Squall this time. Despite the lovely attempt at consoling her, she fought all of her natural instincts and the fuzzy feelings by keeping her arms awkwardly outstretched. She didn't want to risk hurting him again.

But sadly enough, this was a temporary solution at best. Rinoa knew she had to break it off before her arms would tire. However, there was one major flaw with the permanent solution; he wouldn't let go no matter how hard she wriggled.

"Squall, can you let go? I don't want to hurt your back again."

He stayed rooted in the same position, despite her pleas.

"I don't care Rinoa. It's not like I'm going to drop dead from a little stinging."

She sighed as a sarcastic thought permeated her head, '_Good ol' dependable Squall, always stubborn to the very end._'

"Fine, be that way." she conceded. But as soon as she softly draped her arms around his upper back, she couldn't deny the soothing nature of the fuzzy feelings any longer. The soft feel of his shirt underneath her fingertips, the warmth radiating from his body, the-

'_No. No more._'

The consequences for her submission finally started to creep up on her when she sensed the light twitch in his posture.

Then, two more. And then another, _and…_

All of the remaining pleasurable fuzziness was nullified altogether.

"Squall, are there any specific places where it won't hurt to have my arms around your back? I don't want you doing this for me if I have to hurt you in the process. Hurting you isn't something what I want."

He sighed. "No ther_e-_ really isn't."

Finally, she managed to wriggle out of his arms.

"I guess there's nothing to stall the evitable now," the teenage girl solemnly admitted, "I suppose you want to know what happened on my trip."

His firm expression made his answer very clear.

"Okay, here it goes…" Rinoa took in a deep breath. "You know Sylvia, that lady you saw when you dropped me off at my house, well she's… they announced during the sight-seeing tour that _she's_… going to live in my house now."

Within a blink, she was looking at him with sullen eyes. "_And_ when I found out, _I_…ran away and didn't stop until I somehow managed to get here. The only thing I've got with me is my cell, the clothes on my back and…and I'm all messed up. Everything's just piling up and I don't know how to unbury myself anymore."

There was a sort of awkwardness now apparent in his posture. He couldn't seem to decide on where to place his arms, couldn't keep his face void of peculiar expressions, and by God, couldn't stop fidgeting for the life of him. At that moment, Rinoa wondered if her news could have been _that_ much of a surprise to him.

"_Squall? -_Are you… _are you okay?_"

Just then, he stopped moving and his face settled upon a grim look, "This must have been…really bothering you for a long time, hasn't it?"

'_He didn't know much about this, did he?_'

'_No, I never said much to him about this other than that one time._'

Rinoa settled into a demure look for herself. "Yeah, it has. But please, tell me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Is it natural to feel so _angry_ about something like this? I feel like I can't control myself anymore…"

He frowned. "I couldn't tell you myself, but I was told that it's only human to express anger when the situation warrants it."

The teenage girl's mouth curved into a bittersweet grimace. "…Sounds like you know more than you give yourself credit for."

"I've got three new scars to show for that particular knowledge. …And it's a lesson I won't soon forget."

Rinoa moved her head slightly to lock eyes with him, making a connection between his weary blues and her own wondering browns.

"Squall, if it's no big deal, could I see them… the scars I mean."

Without a moment's notice, he nodded.

"_Is it okay if I…?_"

He nodded again.

With hesitant strides forward, she closed the distance between them and stopped altogether. Looking into his cerulean orbs for further reassurance, thoughts filled her head. Was he actually okay with this or was he bending his principles just to feed her curiosity? The answer had to be clear in her conscience; this had to be something he truly agreed with too.

The calm look present in his eyes confirmed his answer. No words were exchanged but, he stood still, never wavering from her emotionally-charged gaze. It was alright to continue. Moving along, she extended her arms and grasped the bottom corners of his plain white shirt. Within moments, she delicately tugged the material upwards, inching towards his upper body, revealing more skin along the way. Then, after a few trying pulls and tugs later, the time came where he obliged to bend a little and move his arms accordingly for the shirt to go over and off his head and arms.

And with one smooth and gliding motion, Rinoa did just that. The plain white shirt was cast aside. A gasp immediately escaped her throat.

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Rinoa couldn't believe was she was actually seeing, nevermind fathom it. Lo and behold, the scars he had mentioned before became more than the theoretical claims, they became real, _vividly_ real. As she held up a hand to her mouth, she almost wanted to cry at the sight.

The light but long scar above his hip, the raw and rectangular scrape on his bicep and the large scar across his shoulder… Rinoa knew that these were all **her** fault. -And now she was _truly_ on the brink of tears.

"Hyne_… Why did I leave?_"

Finally, the withheld tears streamed out the instant her eyes closed.

"Rinoa, stop it."

'_Huh?_'

"Open your eyes and stop crying."

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"Because it's my fault. It's **all** my fault."

"No it's not, now stop it."

"No."

Rinoa could hear the impatient sigh coming out from his mouth.

"Will you stop acting childish and listen to me?" Squall sounded like he was on the end of his rope. "This was **not** your fault, it was mine. I didn't tell you everything."

She let her one eye peek open and saw that he was inches away, fully-clothed again and staring her straight in the eye with a genuinely concerned look. Rinoa opened the other eye and couldn't help but blush a little.

"You …didn't tell me everything? What didn't you say?" she inquired meekly.

"What I didn't get around to saying before was that Seifer did more than use the fact that you weren't here, he did other things."

Rinoa's eyes widened. Were these the answers she sought?

"He'd… make comment after stupid comment, injure me intentionally and try almost anything to get a reaction from me. In the end, he got his reaction – I let my anger control my actions. I didn't have enough willpower to endure the provoking or enough common sense to stop it altogether. Instead I caved and…_let __**him**__ win_."

She was visibly in awe. "So… that's what happened?"

He sighed. "More or less."

Rinoa tilted her head quizzically. "…What do you mean by that?"

"I didn't have the chance to mention the catalyst responsible for this whole mess. I only gave you the overall picture."

"Oh."

"…It was those last words_." _During his pause, it looked like he was replaying the entire scene in his head. _"…_Before the fight actually broke out, he'd made the comment that one day, I'd lose my _'beloved strangle-hold'_ over my _emotions_ and like it. And when I got angry and told him to take it back, he mentioned you."

Rinoa stood silent, rapt by his tale of events.

"He'd asked if I was going to be this cold and indifferentto youand added that if it was, he couldn't see what you ever saw in me. -That was my breaking point. The fight broke out when I had punched him in the face right after."

After he was done, he took a long look into her eyes. Rinoa didn't know what he was looking for exactly, but at least she understood why he refused to tell her the truth before.

To a boy, no a man, who had never truly let his emotions rule his actions before, it must have been catastrophic to succumb so easily by a few choice words and provocations. Worst of all, he'd paid dearly for his first serious _'offence'_. To Squall, it wasn't about winning the physical battle, exacting some kind of revenge, or walking away the least unscathed like others would fight for in that situation, he fought for something _else, _for something _deeper_.

Zoning back into the present moment, Rinoa noticed that he held the same _look_ in his eyes, safe for the fact that they now showed isolation and distance as well. A niggling feeling at the back of her skull told her that he didn't happen to find what he wanted within her own gaze.

"Squall… what were you looking for?"

The look was ditched altogether. "Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that someone who looks like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders would answer with a _'nothing'_, _they're-_ you're obviously searching for something. Please, tell me what it is."

"…This is stupid. I shouldn't even be thinking this."

"Thinking about what?"

He groaned. "Forgiveness."

"_-Forgiveness?_ Why is that stupid?"

"Because it's immature." he responded coolly. "My head is searching for a sign of forgiveness for my irrational actions. …It's immature because it's as if I'm trying to hide behind words."

"Squall…?"

He looked up attentively.

"Now I understand why you couldn't tell me about anger before. You don't seem to be willing to believe whoever told you that anger is a natural reaction when you're upset. You only see it as a sign of weakness. You should really start believing in what that person said though."

He sighed. "I know that I should… -_but I can't_. …Give me time."

"Give yourself all the time you need, I know that you'll get there eventually."

"…_Thank you_."

She gave him a light smirk. "No problem."

'_Maybe you're not as broken as I thought Squall. Maybe all you needed was to learn how to forgive yourself._'

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As if her last words were secretly magical, Rinoa sensed the overall mood lighten up a bit. But as fate would have it, this newfound peacefulness didn't last when a new question suddenly popped up inside her head.

"Okay, I know that this'll seem like a drastic jump between topics to you, but…you said that you had three scars, right?"

He looked mildly perplexed. "…Yes. I did."

"Then how come I've only seen two, not counting the scrape on your arm?"

Judging by his face, a light bulb must have gone off inside his head. "You didn't see the one on my upper back."

He slipped out of his shirt again and Rinoa circled around to his back to see the hidden scar for herself. Her jaw dropped.

'_Oh. My. HYNE._'

The semi-healed scar line was long, thick, and from the looks of it, deep.

"Did Seifer do _**that **_to _you?! How- When…?_" she hysterically garbled. "_-Hyne,_ I'm _**so**_ sorry if I touched that earli-"

He turned around to face her. "-He didn't do that, I did."

Rinoa's jaw stayed half agape.

"At one point he had me pinned on the floor by the tip of his blade, thinking that it would make me stay there. But as you can see…it didn't quite work."

"_Um…okay._ Do you actually know what pain is anymore? Would it even hurt if I punched you stomach?"

"Yes Rinoa, I know what pain is." he replied flatly with a touch of sarcasm. "Don't try punching me either."

The teenage girl beamed. "Don't worry, I won't."

'-_Not like it would have an effect… Despite what __**you**__ say Squall._'

After her last question was answered, the air seemed to feel light again, only this time around; her face seemed to feel a tad _flushed _as well. Looking down, the shirt that he held only served to fuel this recent revelation of hers' and when her gaze wandered back up, she managed to sneak in a quick, guilty glance at his oft-hidden, lean and muscular stomach before her eyes ultimately met up with his calculating regard. Oddly enough, now that she really thought about it, he never seemed the least bit fazed either time.

'_Okay, when did Mr. Self-Conscious decide to grow up?_'

'-_Or_ _could it be possible that he was too preoccupied with all this stuff to care?_'

'…_Wait. Why am I complaining?_'

Then, the subject of her infliction dared to break her out of her daze. "…Are you okay? You're all red."

She snapped back into reality. "I'm fine…_um_…just, _uh_, warm."

He furrowed his eyebrows ever so subtly. Or not.

'_Why are my knees feeling so-'_

"Rinoa…are you lying to m-"

Far sooner than Rinoa would have cared to admit, her legs didn't seem to want to cooperate and stand up on their own accord, which duly explained the embarrassment she felt two seconds later when he'd saved her from falling …and when she ended up slouched against him, legs limper than a pair of overcooked noodles.

Trying to put a good face on this, she looked up and mustered a brave little smile. "_Okay…_ maybe I do need to sit down for a little while…"

He tilted his own head downward. "…Are you okay to move or would it be easier for me to carry you?"

"_Um_…I think I'll be fine now."

Despite her calm exterior, it was a complete riot inside her head. '_Squall, you're so oblivious to your own charms that it's driving me insane! Stop that!_'

After he let go, Rinoa seemed to be okay and holding her own without difficulty, but the minimal progress halted when her knees buckled midway through her second step. Without thinking, she unconsciously latched onto his bare shoulders for support and cringed when he shuddered. Stupid knees.

"Sorry." she tersely mumbled. "My knees gave out …again."

"…It's fine Rinoa." A moment passed before he resumed speaking. "…Do you want me to carry you now?"

She blushed even harder. "You don't have to carry me Squall. You can just help me walk."

"I can't help you walk if _both _your knees buckle."

'_Crap. He's got a point._'

'_Why am I fighting this though?_'

Then, the evil little voice in her head chimed, **'**_**-You know why.**_**'**

Ignoring that little voice, she smirked. "You're being rather adamant about this, aren't you?"

"No. I'm being logical."

"-Alright, you win. But promise me that you won't hurt yourself, 'kay?"

"…Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"You'd better mean it, and not have something happen like when I said _it-ah!_"

Before she knew it, he'd already whisked her off her feet, making even strides forward with a certain level of confidence in his pace. Cradled closely by his two arms, Rinoa felt secure and privileged by simply being there. His strong, but delicate hold was a treasure that she alone possessed at this moment. Nobody else.

The major effort he made just to ease her minor trouble made her feel special, made her feel lucky, but most important of all, made her feel loved with an otherworldly sense of protection that no one else, save Squall himself, could give. Despite of all these feelings, she told him nothing of this. Words would only ruin the perfection that the moment already had and this silent understanding remained until Squall fully carried out the deed. It was only when he had softly laid her onto the teal living room couch did she say something.

"…I really appreciated that Squall."

He gave her a weak smile and sat down beside her with his elbows resting on his knees and upper body leaning towards the edge. The movement caused her notice something on the floor. She picked it up and looked him in the eye.

"…You want this?" she asked, brandishing his previously-discarded shirt in her hands. Surprisingly enough, he declined.

"-You sure?"

He responded in mock annoyance, "…Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay then…_Huah!_" She mirthfully tossed the shirt up in the air. It landed near the phone. "Now it's gone, see? No shirt."

Facing him again, Rinoa rapidly took notice of the way his eyes now seemed to be studying her face. Figuring that it was only fair, she baited him with a quirky smile for him to examine. Needless to say, when he took the bait without prompting, a question came his way.

"-What is it?"

"…Your face."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny Squall."

"…That's not what I meant."

"_Okay_…so what did you mean?"

"You look… happy again."

She had to giggle at this one. "And why is that such a miraculous discovery?"

"…Because you looked as if you'd never been depressed at all, like what happened before never…happened."

Her peculiar smile broadened. "Hasn't it ever occurred to you that you might have cheered me up at some point?"

"You do realize who you're talking to, right?"

"So? It's still true. You, Squall Leonhart, have cheered me up, and now that you've officially succeeded in cheering at least one person up, I think it calls for a little surprise."

"…Like what?"

"Ooh, you don't want to know that. Trust me."

"Try me."

"Nope. Nuh-uh. No way." Rinoa maintained an air of exaggerated snootiness by sticking her nose up, crossing her arms low and keeping her eyes shut. What Rinoa didn't maintain however, was something she never would have expected.

"Hey! What are you doing Squall?" she whined, eyes now open. Rinoa had found herself on the floor close to the couch.

"Reclaiming my couch." he said while stretching himself across the cushions, leaving for her no space whatsoever.

"And what gives you permission to do that?"

"My house. My couch."

"Is this because you're so wounded that I didn't tell you about the 'surprise'?"

He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Could be. But it's still my house."

She raised her eyebrows. '_I never knew he could be this playful… He's just full of surprises today. Well, two can play at that game._'

"Well then you leave me no choice Squall. -Time for the Cuchi-Cuchi treatment."

Tickle. Tickle…Tickle……

"_No, don't…__" _

Tickle! Tickle!

"_Stop that!" _

_-__Tickle-Tickle-Tickle-_

"_Don't you dare- Gah!" _

_**-TICKLETICKLETICKLETICKLETICKLETICKLETICKLE!!!**_

"_-I said stop! Please!"_

After twenty seconds of tickling torture, Rinoa stopped. Not because of his constant flailing and pleads, but because it was kind of weird knowing he was that ticklish. Who knew that someone reputed for being so cold could also be so, well… for a lack of a better term, ticklish? Never in her lifetime would Rinoa have guessed that it would have had _that_ much of an effect on him. She would have been more likely to assume that it would've been mildly annoying to him, if anything.

"…Now will you let me sit on the couch? I swear that I won't tickle you anymore."

He nodded and moved over in defeat. She sat down and looked him so seriously in the eye that it came out funny.

"Am I the only person in the world that knows you're morbidly ticklish?"

"Right now? Yes. But my sister used to know about it too."

'-_Did I hear him right?_'

"…Rinoa?"

"-Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone I'm ticklish."

A small grin broke out. "I won't, I promise. But if it slips out somehow, I give you full permission to tickle me to death."

He looked sceptical. "…Are you even ticklish?"

"Yep. I'm slightly less ticklish than you, just by a teeny bit. Don't try to prove it though; you might end up with a foot in your face."

"Hm."

"_-Squall?_"

"…Yes?"

"Did you honestly want to know what I meant by when I mentioned a 'surprise' earlier?"

"A little."

"Do you want to know now? No, let me rephrase that, are you _sure_ that you want to find out?" she teased.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"How sure?"

He rolled his eyes. "…Do I have to answer that?"

"Mm…okay. Maybe not."

But before she did anything, she had an abrupt change of heart and paused to contemplate whether or not she should go through with what she was prepared to do so effortlessly seconds before. And so she weighed her options. If she went through, she would inadvertently be doing what the nagging little voice inside her head warned to avoid. If she didn't…well, she would have lead him on for no reason. As time ticked on, Rinoa knew she had to make a snap decision sooner rather than later.

…And so she did.

She leaned over and delivered a small peck to his cheek. Rinoa felt happy about the compromise she came up with.

"Hope you're not disappointed about that. It was supposed to be a small surprise, remember?"

He nodded. "…Yes, I remembered you saying that."

When he got up to collect his shirt a second later, she exhaled. '_Thank Hyne that the evil little voice inside my head was only a groundless fear. I don't think I would have been able to bear seeing Squall get mortified by his father again…_'

'**-**_**Ring-riiing!!**_**'**

"Gah!"

Wheneas Rinoa nearly jumped out of her skin from the shrill ringing, Squall, who was in the middle of putting his shirt back on, didn't react at all. After he casually finished up, he answered the phone as if she'd never shot up ten feet.

"…Hello?"

There was a two second pause.

"…What do you want?"

'_Must be his father on the other end._' she mused.

"-You're coming here when? Now?"

Rinoa gasped.

"…Oh. So you're getting to the house sooner, but not now."

Slowly, she remembered how to breathe again.

"Stop confusing me with all these different times. All I want to know is if you're coming later or sooner. -Sooner? That's fine… -Don't bother making that other call, I'll tell her myself. Bye."

He set down the phone with a resounding click.

"Squall…" She approached him slowly when he stepped away from the phone. "-I think I should go now. …Just to make sure we won't get caught up in something embarrassing like what happened Saturday morning."

Seconds later, just before she could even think of leaving, he grabbed her hand firmly and brought her closer than ever, making it impossible to go anywhere other than where she was right now.

She sighed. "…You know I have to go. You don't want your father to get any more wrong ideas about us, do you?"

Although he never looked away, Rinoa noticed that there was something …off about his facial expression. Just then, before she could figure out the mystery, he pulled her in closer and, without any forewarning, he kissed her softly. The mere contact against his body alone sent a shock through her system, but when coupled with the kiss, the effect magnified to an almost lethal rate. …It was a risk she was willing to take.

When it ended a little while later, all she could seem to do was meekly smile. "…So was that my goodbye kiss?"

"No."

Rinoa tilted her head quizzically. "So if it isn't, and I don't have to leave then… what time is your father coming home?"

He arched his eyebrows. "I don't know who you heard but that _wasn't_ my father on the phone."

"_-Huh?_ Then who was it?"

"I was talking to the guy my father hired yesterday to cut down a tree in my backyard. –The same one I fell off of. He was supposed to come tomorrow, but as you obviously heard, he's not very coherent when it comes to discussing time."

"But… why did you mention a 'her' at the end? I mean… other than you, wouldn't the tree cutter be only concerned with your father who's a 'him' and not a 'her'?"

"That 'her' I mentioned was my next-door neighbour. The tree happens to run through both properties."

With all of the questions answered, her eyes brightened up considerably. "…So does that mean I can stay longer?"

"…If you want."

Then another thought raced past her head.

"_Wait._ What time does your father _actually_ get home at?"

"…Not for another hour at least. Don't worry about it Rinoa."

She looked down. "_Okay. That's good._"

"Rinoa…"

She hesitated before looking up.

"…Is there something you're not telling me? You sounded hollow."

She frowned at his accusations, namely because they were right. '_I guess I can't keep on pretending any longer. There's no way that I can just look into those beautiful blue-grey eyes of his and lie straight to his face. I can't._'

"Squall?"

"Yes."

"…You were right. There is something."

"-What is it?"

"You know when I told about how I ran away … after their news?"

He nodded attentively.

"It's even worse than what I said. …Just before I ran away, I told them I wasn't ever coming back home."

"I don't think they'll hold it against you Rinoa. They probably know that you were too angry to truly mean what you said back there."

"Please…" She took his hands and clasped them together with her own. "…don't patronize me. My mind was clearer than it ever was back there and I meant every word I yelled from the bottom of my heart and soul.The house I grew up in isn't a home anymore. It's just another brick house."

"Then… what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help me."

"-How?"

"I didn't have the courage to ask you earlier but, _if it's at all possible, could I…? -_Could I live here?"

When he turned away uncomfortably, Rinoa felt a large pang in her heart.

'_He's…not going to help me…is he? Ooh, why did I say it in the first place? I might as well slap on a, 'Hi, I'm a clingy basket-case girlfriend!' sticker on my forehead. Nevermind that, I swear I need a sticker over my mouth sometimes…_'

Suddenly, she blinked and it was like he'd magically appeared right in front of her.

"…I take it you didn't hear me."

"No, no I didn't. I kinda zoned out for a minute. …Sorry."

"Well, thought it over and… I want to help, if only a little. You can stay on the condition that you find a way to get some of your things here and that you talk to my father about the situation and make sure that it's not a problem with him."

"…Really? You mean that? I don't know what to say…This is all…"

He smiled warmly. "…You're welcome."

Without a second thought, she smiled back.

'_You know… if it weren't for those scars, I would have given you a great big hug by now Squall.'_

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**End of Chapter Comments –** I'm not going to bother with all the usual drivel so… you guys know what to do.

Hope it wasn't too weird though…

_-Emerald-Latias_


	14. Chapter XIV – Altered

**Author's Note – **I don't have anything to say other than I appreciated the reviews I received for chapter 13. You guys rock! Now onwards! _Hiyah!_

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**Chapter XIV –**** Altered**

After replaying the last few moments in his head, Squall couldn't seem to shake the surreal nature of it all; it was almost as if he'd crossed an invisible line that welcomed him to the other side, to another side of commitment. Their roles were now reversed and he would have to be the one protecting her and not the usual, yet unorthodox, way around with her protecting him. Protecting her from her shattered home life, protecting her fragile spirit, and most important of all, protecting her from losing her sanity.

Hyne, if there ever was a time where he hoped that his father understood him a little, now was the time. So much rode on his answer. If it was no, Rinoa would be sent to the hell she so sorely wanted to leave behind, and Squall wouldn't be able to live with himself for letting her hopes fly so high only to be crushed by the weight of the older man's words.

'_He won't say no, it's not like him._' he reassured himself naively. The reassurance failed him. '_-No, I can't guarantee anything. There's always that possibility.' _

'…_Even if it is a no, I'll do anything to keep her safe. I'll hide her here if it comes down to it._'

That invisible line he crossed came back to haunt him again. There were so many variables to account for, so many possibilities, outcomes, consequences… it fervently boggled the mind. But then again, most of the things that had happened during the past couple of weeks were mind-boggling enough by themselves.

"Rinoa," His voice came out in a firm whisper. She looked up at him serenely. "…Is there a possibility of retrieving some of your things without getting caught?"

Her eyes flickered in contemplation. "Yes, I think there is one way, but…" She paused. "-wouldn't I have to wait to see what your father's answer is first?"

"No."

"…_No?_"

"…Look, I've changed my mind and decided that …I'm going to help you no matter what his answer is."

In spite of the ever-growing smile on her face, the rest of Rinoa's features held a kind of sceptical nature about them.

"-What'll you do if he says no, exactly?"

"Worst case scenario, I'll hide you here without him knowing."

"I know I've already said this before, but…I really appreciate the trouble you're going through for me. And as far as I'm concerned, you've already went above and beyond the call of duty Squall."

He smiled faintly. "No, I haven't. I'm only making sure that I keep my promise."

"No." She clasped his hands together. "You didn't make any sort of promise to me, you said that you wanted to help, if only a little, and you already did. You helped me feel better knowing that you'd try for me."

He conceded in pleasant defeat. She came closer towards his body only to quickly draw back a second later. Blush spread across her face like wildfire.

"Sorry… I almost forgot that I can't hug you right now."

"-Don't worry about it Rinoa."

"Okay. So you wanted to know if I could get some of my stuff out of my house?"

He nodded.

"I just might be able to, but I'd need to use a phone to see if anyone's there first, one that won't display anything on caller id that would tell them where I am. Like a payphone."

"Maybe we can try my cell. I don't think it displays anything."

"Hm. Maybe. Lets' call your house to test it out first."

"Sure."

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'_**Drring…Drring…Drring…'**_

"Damn, the display box is showing your first initial, last name and number."

Cell phone in hand, he clicked it off and the incessant ringing stopped.

"…Guess we'll have to walk to the payphone down the street."

"Okay. I'll put my stuff on and we'll go."

"-Same here. I'll be upstairs for a minute."

Following a couple of quick strides out of the living room and towards the entranceway again, Squall headed upstairs to go change into some decent clothes for the late winter climate. The process took very little time but when he bounded back downstairs, he could have sworn that he had heard something atypical, like voices. His pace doubled.

"-Rinoa?"

He had heard voices alright, but it wasn't the kind he had imagined when he caught her hopping around with one boot on and the other being pulled, twisted and strained onto the other foot in mid-air. As soon as she noticed his wondering gaze though, she froze and a sort of embarrassed grin emerged.

-What he'd heard earlier was the string of curses directed to the boot in question.

"_Um, I guess I should explain_… Ever since you pushed me into that puddle last Monday, these boots have been harder and harder to put on and this is the fastest way I can get them on."

"…You didn't need to explain that."

"Oh." She finally managed to put the other boot on. But when he glided his own boots on with ease, she pouted. "No fair. Guys' boots are always easier to put on. Women's are nothing but trouble. Especially heels. Hyne have mercy on you if you're ever forced to wear sparkly stilettos."

Needless to say, Squall's eyebrows arched dangerously as he mindlessly fumbled to find his coat in the nearby closet.

"…I think Hyne should have mercy on you for even _thinking _that I'd ever wear those things, let alone the idea of you wearing men's boots."

"I_…um,_ oh nevermind… Forget I ever said it."

He turned around to face her, coat in hand. "…No, I don't think I can."

"Okay, so I accidentally tried on men's boots in a shoe store once when I was twelve. Big deal. That's forgivable, right?"

"Hard to say."

"Ha. Ha. Haa. Well, I for one think that you have more skeletons in your closet than you'd care to admit. One being that you might have worn heels at one point of your life."

"-Then you're mistaken."

"Oh _no,_" she jibed confidently, "I'm pretty sure that you did, judging by how fast denied it and by the look on your face."

"The answer is still no."

"Well, what about your sister? I'm sure she might have dressed you up at least once. Maybe she made you wear heels and you didn't know what they were because you were so little."

"I don't think she ever did, but-" He forced himself to think harder. "…There might have been one time where she tried to but couldn't. All I remember is that I wasn't in the mood to co-operate because she was taking so long."

"Oh. How old were you?"

'_It was a week before the accident if I remember properly._'

"I think I was five."

"Soo…what did she try to dress you up in? _…Hm?_"

"She _didn't_ put heels on me Rinoa." he reiterated fiercely. "I clearly remember running away from her with bare feet before she even had the chance. All she could have done was lipstick my mouth, put me in a dress, and tie my hair into-"

'_-Way to go Leonhart.'_

Rinoa stood there speechless, maybe even catatonic.

He slapped himself in the forehead. "_Ergh._ …How you manage to find out about these things is_ beyond_ me."

"_No, no. …it's just…_" Apparently, she regained the power of speech. "-Cute."

"Cute? I don't do _cute_."

"_Aww_…" she cooed. Then, she broke into song. "Squall's got a cute side and he doesn't like to show it."

"No I don't."

"Well, you're ticklish. That's cute for starters."

'_I'm not hearing this conversation…I'm not hearing it…I'm not…_'

"…Whatever. We should be walking to that payphone, not wasting time with trivial matters like …this. We've been sidetracked enough as it is."

"Okay, okay…you win this time."

Squall blinked hard. '_I …won? Is that even plausible?_'

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Feeling the quarter buried in his jacket's pocket for what could have been the thousandth time, Squall noiselessly sighed. If he would have had the audacity to admit it, he would have chosen a scene akin to his prior embarrassment, maybe even worse, over the one he faced now. The mood had dipped too fast into muted seriousness, even for _his_ liking.

He looked over at Rinoa once more. With her head faced forward and hands buried in her pockets, the wind whipped at her face mercilessly, causing her loose strands of dark hair to sway in all directions. But in spite of this, Rinoa didn't seem to care or even notice that her hair was even flying all over the place.

He frowned lightly.

"Rinoa?"

No response.

"…Rinoa?"

Still no response.

"-Have any heels I could borrow?"

Her head whipped around violently. "_-What?_"

"…You weren't paying attention before."

"Oops.…You had me worried there for a second you know."

"-Nervous?"

"Yeah, a little. I'm just afraid that I'll dial the number and my father will pick up."

"-Would it be better if you dialled and I had the phone?"

"No. It's my mess, and I have to deal with it."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He fished through his one pocket and gave her the quarter. "Here. The phone's right up there."

She accepted it and walked up the nearby phone booth at the corner, the same corner he occasionally caught the bus in the morning. He stopped and watched her go without another word, without another sound. With every step closer to her goal, his breath shortened and then she got there. In one fluid motion, she plucked the phone off the hook and deposited the quarter. Soon, her fingers gracefully danced across the buttons and once she was done, waited patiently with the phone pressed against her ear, swaying back and forth on the spot. Now he would have to wait as well.

"**So..."**

"**We're going to have to go to Plan B, the phone itself was dead."**

_(Why am I thinking __of this?)_

'_**Dead? I wasn't expecting that, I was expecting her to say that no one to answered...Weird.'**_

_(…Is it because I'm expecting the same thing to happen?)_

'_**Wait, maybe everything is shut down everything for the long weekend. Oh well... She'd better not be pain in the-'**_

"_**-Earth **_**to Squall,**_** hello..."**_

_(No, there's got to be a deeper connection than that.)_

"**You know, I can't hear what you're thinking about, you have to speak more often."**

"**Whatever..."**

_…Still, I can't seem to figure it out.)_

"**So what do we have to do to prepare for Plan B?"**

"-Got a pair of men's boots I can borrow?"

"…_What?"_

"-Got you Squall. You weren't paying attention."

"Sorry, I was just… thinking."

"Well you're going to have to direct it towards something else. I need you to help me with the details for a plan."

He felt a pang of déjà vu. "-You need a Plan B?"

"Nope." she said with a defiant smirk. "I need a Plan A. There wasn't an answer at the other end."

They started to walk back.

"-Subterfuge?"

"Definitely."

Then it hit him.

'-_Phones. Every period in my life ended with a phone call._'

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"No… it's too high up to just drop the stuff down, you might get hurt."

"If it's not an option then I don't think you can bring as much with the time frame you're giving me."

"What about a pulley system?"

He shook his head. "You'd be wasting too much time setting up and dismantling it."

"-Gimme the pen and paper. -Thanks."

Sitting on the edge of the bed in his room, he passed their plans to the girl who was leisurely lying stomach-down beside him. In spite of the seriousness of their current situation, Squall found it secretly amusing to see her concentrate so hard.

"_Hmm…_ What about this one here, below the first crossed-out line?"

He peered over her shoulder, "No good. Having both of us up there to pack won't do us any good if they come back. I have to stay down and keep watch."

"Okay, what if…" She leaned closer to show him the paper. "We bring our cells and you stay outside to watch from a couple of houses away in the car, and if they come, you call and I'll run out the back way with whatever I have on me and you drive away. I'll ride my bike to your house and meet up with you there. Sound better?"

"Not quite." He pointed to some of the lines in her plan. "The part with your bicycle won't work because chances are that whatever you packed will weigh enough to throw off your center of gravity, making a successful getaway nigh-impossible to achieve - especially if you have to start pedaling on grass."

"-And if they suspect that your bike is gone, that alone will raise unwanted suspicion and in a worse-case scenario, make it easier to find you from any possible indents left in the grass or dirt trails on the roads and pavement."

She pulled the paper away from him at that point and loudly scratched out her previously-suggested plan.

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"-I think that the key to this is speed. When you go to get your things, grab the bare essentials and leave. Even if you think you have time or need more things, don't stay – the slightest miscalculation can screw everything up. Not to mention, taking little won't make it evident that you were there and you'll have less to carry if things go astray."

"…As for myself, your plan's fine but if I phone you, depending as you see fit, hide yourself or leave. If you're out of the house, leave on foot and call when I can pick you up at a safe place. Sound reasonable?"

She crumpled up the paper and tossed both that and the pen behind her.

"Have you ever considered going for SeeD when you're older? I think you should."

He looked at her quizzically. "No… But what does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"Because what you said it was so…_amazing!_ I couldn't even believe my own ears!"

"_-What are you talking about?_ All I did was give you a suggestion."

"But _that's_ the point, you gave me an awesome suggestion!" she replied candidly. "The deadpan, lets'-get-it-done seriousness in your voice and all of the meticulous little details in your plan made you seem like you were ready to take charge, kick ass and take names."

'_I sounded like that…?_'

"…So I take it we're doing what I suggested?"

Rinoa rolled her eyes up at him playfully. "Duh, that was the point of my speech. Plus, we'd be stupid _not_ to."

He got up. "-If that's the case, we should go now."

She sprung off of the bed without another word.

"-You didn't have to tell me twice, lets' go!"

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After an atmospherically-charged trip with Rinoa raring to go collect her possessions and step foot inside her house for what could possibly be the last time for her, surveying the blank neighbourhood from a car's vantage point, alone no less, according to the plan was far more trite and dull by an exceedingly large margin. As the minutes seemed to drag on for what seemed like a miniature slice of eternity, Squall couldn't help but wonder for how long he'd still have to wait.

Consulting his cell for the current time, he groaned when he mentally calculated that that she'd only been in there for roughly…three minutes and forty two point six seconds. During the trip to, they'd estimated that the caper would take her at the very least, nine minutes.

A fierce, inconveniently reflected glare from a car coming up behind him blinded him momentarily, and his eyes involuntarily closed in reaction. Despite the blinding light, the soothing darkness that his closed lids provided felt so good compared to the day's harsh, sleep-inhibiting rays. Good enough that he kept his eyes closed for an extra moment, and then another, and then-

'-_Wake. Up. NOW._'

"…_**What the hell happened?"**_

His eyes opened to a much darker scene, the middle of the night as it were. He was still in the car, still sitting in the driver's seat, still gripping the wheel with his hands, still waiting for _her…_

"-Rinoa?"

He scanned the interior and found nobody but himself. A weak ring echoed from the passenger's seat.

_-H__is cell. _

'_Someone_ _must have left a message._'

'…_Maybe it's from Rinoa._'

'_I hope she's alright._'

'_Still, how could I have dozed off like this? …She was depending on me._'

Reaching over, Squall hesitantly grabbed the phone and brought it to his ear. A minute later, he convinced himself to push the buttons responsible to hear the messages. The cold click of the button seemed to have stuck longer in his head than the actual message did.

"_**Message one. Six. Twenty. P.M. Tuesday."**_

"_Squall…it's Rinoa. I'm hiding in my bedroom closet, waiting for the coast to be clear. My phone must have missed your call because…well, I didn't get any. Right now, it's twenty after six. Go home until I call you back. Bye._"

"_**-Beep. Message two. Nine. Forty. Five. P.M. Tuesday."**_

'…_There's more?'_

"_Squall, it's me again. I finally escaped but I'm getting scared. I ran away on foot like you told me but, it's getting colder and colder and your cell and home numbers are acting funny. All I'm getting is the voice mail or your answering machine. Either way, I'm going to try walking to your house so if you see me coming, open the door 'kay? Or if you get this message sooner, if you could pick me up, that'd be great. Just so you know; I'm going back the same way you took to get to my place. Bye."_

"_**-Beep. Message three. One. Twelve. A.M. Wednesday."**_

'……_This can't be good.'_

"_S..q…ual.l I'm ..free-ee-zin…g to death… No-o j-j-joke…I can't m__o-ove… Too hard t-too go any-any-where. Your ho..ome is …is l-loc-ck-ed. Please…save…me-e…I don't wan…t to…di…e-"_

"_**-Beep. Message four. One. Twenty. Two. A.M. Wednesday."**_

Squall could feel his face burn up. '_Hyne…no…please…_'

'…_I'm……s..o-rr…y…_'

"_**-Beep. End of messages."**_

The phone cracked the windshield with a resounding clatter.

"_**-No!"**_

He smashed his right fist through the broken glass. Blood streamed freely across his forearm, yet he felt no pain.

"…_**It can't be…**_"

Tears streamed down his face, yet he still felt no pain.

"_**I… killed her. No…it can't be…it can't……"**_

He got out of the car and slammed both hands on top of the roof. His tears came in torrents but the pain did not register.

"…_**She**__** was living…breathing…laughing not even five minutes ago…Why was she taken away from me so fast…? …So suddenly? What did I do? What did I do for this…this to happen? -ANSWER ME!"**_

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light pierce the night's stillness across the middle of the road. Although he knew what it was, he walked towards it, making mere strides forward as the light came faster and _faster_ and closer and _closer-_

"_We'll be together again Rinoa." _he whispered to the heavens above. _"…Don't worry._"

All it took was one thud. He still felt no pain.

"_**-For the love of Hyne Squall, don't do that!"**_

'…_Rinoa?'_

His eyes were refocusing to the light again, adjusting to a much brighter view currently provided in contrast to his last moments of life earlier. Finally, his eyes properly unglued. Was this the otherworld?

Rinoa happened to be beside him yes, but that was all that seemed remotely angelic about the scene presently unfolding around him. A life-affirming blink of an eye later had unclouded most of the remaining mystery, all he had to do now was make the right connections.

"…What happened here?" he asked in a half-daze, rubbing his head at the same time.

Rinoa, who appeared to be driving the car for some reason, unskilfully pulled over onto the side of the road, jerked the gear into park and cut the engine, her dark brown eyes reassured his conscience when she looked over at him, full of life.

"You just conked your head on the dashboard and nearly scared me to death."

"So …nothing _serious_ happened?"

She smirked at him. "Nope. That is…unless if you want me to walk into traffic."

He seized her arm, the warmth assailed his senses. "Don't… joke about that."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere but, I have to ask… what's gotten into you?"

"I'm…_ not sure." _He let go of her arm. _"_What happened in the last couple hours?"

"_-Hours?_ I found you asleep behind the wheel _fifteen minutes_ ago when I came out of the house without a hitch and with my stuff."

His personal fog started to clear. "If that's true then…why are you driving? Why didn't you just wake me up?"

Rinoa looked away. "To be honest, you didn't look too well. You seemed very pale and twitchy. I didn't want to risk anything so I just moved you over and buckled you up. You might be sitting on your cell though."

Sure enough, he plucked it under from the seat of his pants. Flipping the cover over, the cell's built-in clock confirmed her story.

She looked back, eyes visibly darkened. "…Did something happen, while I was away?"

"Other than falling asleep, nothing."

"Okay, but that doesn't really explain why you were so _edgy_ when you woke up."

"I had a vivid nightmare while I was asleep."

"…_Of?_"

He sighed. "Of you_ …_and myself. The nightmare made it seem like I had fallen asleep in the car for hours and when I woke up, you weren't there beside me. There were only messages from you on my cell and they sounded progressively worse. At the end of the last message, you... died."

"I died? Did it end that way?"

He shook his head morosely. "No. It ended when I got out and…purposely went in front of another car after."

Her eyes went as large as saucepans, her body visibly choked.

"…_I-_"

He placed his index finger in front of her lips, looking at her with a solemn regard. "…You don't have to say anything."

She pushed his hand away and in turn, held it close. This pulled him closer, keeping him only a mere inch apart.

"_You don't understand…_" she whispered, "_I had no idea that I could have affected you so much._"

A pregnant pause developed between them. She broke it again.

"Squall?"

He looked at her attentively.

"…What was it like for you when I died in the nightmare?"

His throat tightened and his breath became sparse.

"I was incredibly angry at myself and refused to believe what had happened. No matter what I did, the pain I should have felt wouldn't register properly."

"Do you think it was because this didn't happen in the real world?"

"It's hard to say. During the nightmare, I punched through the windshield and I still didn't feel a single thing. Even if I did, I don't think that any amount of physical pain would have ever paralleled what was going inside my head."

"Squall…when you talked about the pain not sinking in, were you talking about physical pain or mental pain?"

"Both. When I felt that my initial reaction seemed inadequate, I resorted to physical pain, thinking that it would flesh it out more and make me feel something, but it didn't. I was still lost."

"Could it be possible that you reacted that way because you knew that I wasn't dead deep down inside, or because there was something in the dream that was tipping you off that it _was_ a dream?"

"No. There wasn't anything to make me believe that it was a dream, anyone in my position would have fallen for it."

"So do you think your reaction was _genuine?_"

His heart froze. Something about her tone was off, almost like she was asking a different question altogether.

"No. I wouldn't have gone in front of that car, even in my state. I would have driven back to find you for closure."

Her eyes regained their familiar shimmer. "…I feel better now."

"Rinoa," She looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. "I'm not suicidal."

Even though this seemed like a rather bold and perhaps arbitrary statement, she didn't recoil.

"Thank you for saying that. I wanted to ask but… I was afraid that you'd take it the wrong way and since …this only happened in a dream after all."

He looked at the unbroken windshield. "I understand."

"-Did you want to drive the rest of the way home?"

"No." He was still looking past the windshield. "I fell asleep earlier because my insomnia's catching up with me. I'm not going to risk driving when I might become drowsy again."

"Okay." Squall heard her start the engine again. Before he knew it, she had already leaned over and given him a quick peck on the cheek. "Sweet dreams."

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Similar to the fascination he had when she'd been concentrating so vehemently on a plan earlier, Squall noticed that seeing Rinoa get her things out of the back seat gave him as much secret amusement, if not more. Seeing her at that moment was like seeing a small child tear open presents in a passionate frenzy. The eager way she pulled out and held her suitcase, her broad, cheerful smile, her…everything seemed so whimsical, so innocent and full of hope.

"I swear that if I ever need a military plan, resistance plan, or whatever, I'm coming to you Squall. I never realized that I could pack everything I need but pack so light at the same time. Look!"

He couldn't help but smirk a little when she was showing him how she could lift her suitcase without much effort.

"-And you were right too, carrying this was so easy and I don't think they'll ever know I was there! Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is." He replied with a slight patronizing undertone. "We'd better go inside though."

"Sure, I'm getting a little cold here."

Squall subconsciously twitched.

'_It was just a nightmare, nothing more._'

Walking up to the front entranceway, Squall wondered how much time he had before he'd have the unavoidable talk with his father about Rinoa's fate. Not that Laguna would be aware that she'd be staying regardless of the discussion's outcome, but still, the teenager wondered how much time he had left before he'd know his father's outlook and perspective on the matter. That, by itself, was vital – it could determine _his_ course of action.

And as it turned out, that time was non-existent. Laguna was the first sight they saw after opening the door.

"_Uh…_Why hello there Rinoa. Bringing Squall some more homework?"

Rinoa gave him a perplexed look before something must have clicked in her head like it had in his.

'-_That's right. He didn't know about her trip._'

As she mutely stood there in the present moment, unsure of what to say, Squall stepped in and cut to the chase.

"She's not here to give me homework. She's here because she needs _our_ help."

The older man blinked. "…What do you mean by _'help'_ Squall?"

"Rinoa was away on a trip with her father and the woman her father's dating when they suddenly decided to tell her that the girlfriend was moving into their house. Rinoa never had the chance to discuss any of the arrangements at all."

Laguna cut in. "-So you're saying that her father is forcing Rinoa to let another person into her life without any say?"

"To put it bluntly, yes."

"…That's terrible."

"That's why she needs our help. And your permission."

The older man was still terribly lost. "What does Rinoa need my permission for?"

"If it's okay," Rinoa piped in, "I would like to live here. _…If it's alright with you._"

Laguna turned to face his son. "Squall, by '_help_' you meant this, _right?_"

The teenager nodded.

"Well _um… _let me _…uh… _think for a moment here."

As he was supposedly thinking, Laguna was also doing a lot of pacing, fidgeting, and moving around in general. After few adequate moments of _think _time finished, Squall had to admit that he was impressed at how sharply his father stopped and turned to face them once a possible conclusion must have been reached inside his skull.

"I thought it over a lot and _well_… I've decided that you can stay here Rinoa."

Rinoa's eyes lit up. "Really? Thank you so much Mr. Loire! …This means a lot to me."

"I_… _kinda thought it would. There's just one thing I have to insist on though."

"What is it?"

"Don't call me Mr. Loire, call me Laguna."

She warmly smiled. "-I'll remember that."

"Good. If you need anything Rinoa, I'm doing to be downstairs, so don't hesitate to come down."

"Thanks again, but I think I'll only need to bother Squall to help me with the stuff in my suitcase."

"_Oh…um_…I guess that works too. Squall, if you are helping her with her suitcase, I think the guest room will be good, so she_ …uh_ has her own room to… _herself and all_."

He nodded again. "We'll go do that now."

Then, with the suitcase in tow, they both left upstairs. Even Squall couldn't help but notice how light it was when while carrying it. Meanwhile, he had also remarked that Rinoa on the other hand, was smiling at something that he _didn't_ notice until she promptly informed him in the midst of unpacking her things on the guest room bed. He of course, was leisurely sitting on the bed beside her.

"Your father seemed to be a little more nervous than usual today, especially when I mentioned going upstairs with you."

Squall shrugged. "…Who knows? Maybe you traumatized him for life when you fell out of my bed."

She turned away from her suitcase momentarily. "Very funny Squall."

"…What? It was just a suggestion."

Then she swivelled her body back and resumed unpacking. She tossed a couple more things on top of the bed.

"You know… with your father acting the way he is, I think that we should just have him catch us having sex now to get all this speculation and awkwardness over with and out of the way."

She turned again, only to find him with a half-bewildered, and a half '…_Are you out of your mind?'_ look on his face.

"…You're joking, right?" he coughed.

She shot him a smart-alecky smirk. "…What? It was _just_ a suggestion."

"Very funny Rinoa."

"…Well at least I thought it was."

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Wow, it's only been two weeks! Isn't this awesome? And I had updated the other fic too! Well, well, aren't I a bundle of joy? …Heh, either way, you guys know what to do now.

Bye!

_-Emerald-Latias_


	15. Chapter XV – Shifting Dynamics

**Author's Notes – **Once again I can't think of anything intelligent, witty, or even vaguely coherent to say about the lovely things I've been hearing from you guys. All that I can truly say is that I'm really happy that people like what I'm doing and take the time to tell me that. So before I go into babbling litanies, I'd best be starting. Thank you so much!

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**Chapter XV – Shifting Dynamics**

"There, all done. Thanks for helping me put some stuff away Squall."

"No problem."

After he put the last item in the drawer and turned around, Squall couldn't help but think she was ready to sprout angelic wings on her back, fly sky-high and never touch ground again from the expression his eyes were greeted with.

A mile-wide grin soon joined her features. "I still can't believe I'm living here now, it's almost like a dream or a plot twist in a soap opera. Hyne, this is all so…-_aah_, I still can't explain it."

"You don't have to. This is as much of a shock to me as it is to you."

"Yeah… neither of us could have ever seen _this_ coming."

A couple of faint but audible knocks on the guest room door made the current din seem like a loud, unholy racket by comparison, but before Squall could walk towards the door to open it, Laguna already poked his head through in a rather cautious manner. When the older man looked at him nervously, the teenager stopped moving altogether. At that point, he sensed Rinoa's footsteps also come to a halt, now standing right beside him.

"…I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Squall noticed that she was trying to contain a small snicker.

'_Ugh, now that stupid joke will stay in my head longer._'

"-Nope, we just finished unpacking." Rinoa announced proudly, joy and mirth injected into her every inflection.

"-That's good." Laguna opened the door completely. "Squall, can I talk to you for a moment? It won't take long. Hope you don't mind Rinoa."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "-Not at all. In fact, I think I might just take a nap right now."

"Perfect. Squall, can you follow me into my downstairs office?"

He complied wordlessly.

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"Squall, I didn't have the heart to ask when Rinoa was around but, is there something _more_ I should know about her situation, something neither of you have told me?"

The said son sighed. He should have expected this.

"-Along what lines?"

"Any will do. Somehow, I can't get rid of the feeling that someone's hiding something or that there's another side to this. It strikes me as odd that a man like Rinoa's father would do such a thing to her without warning."

"-Well, it doesn't surprise me." Squall crossed his arms firmly. "I've met the man and he's no picnic."

Laguna's eyebrows furrowed. "When was this?"

"Saturday afternoon. When I dropped Rinoa off, she forgot the bag with her dress in it so I came to the door to give it to her. He came through the house door at the same time and started to argue irrationally with me about her staying over at the house, despite the obvious fact that she had nowhere else to go."

"Actually, seeing as Rinoa's his only daughter, I can't really blame him for the way he must have been acting towards you. Fathers are supposed to be ridiculously over-protective of their daughters; especially when there's the slightest chance that they might have…_well,_ you get the idea. But in Mr. Caraway's defence, even I was under the same impression he jumped to that day."

The teenager shot him a snide look. "…That's funny, I thought you still were."

"What…_um_ makes you say that?"

"The fact that even Rinoa picked up on it today." he replied coolly. "And quite honestly, your assumption is starting to annoy me."

"_Well I-_"

Squall cut him off.

"…Please, I don't want to hear the excuses, just listen to me." He proceeded to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'll admit that even I would have assumed the same thing in your position but, I want you to make an effort to believe me when I say we didn't do anything. Not for me, but for Rinoa. I don't want this falling through only because I have to constantly tell you otherwise. She…doesn't deserve that."

"Squall," Laguna looked at his son sheepishly. "-I'm sorry for not trusting you enough to believe you sooner, it's just that…with all of those things happening with you all of a sudden, I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd…"

Squall nodded knowingly. "-I understand."

The mood lightened a little when Laguna let out a string of seemingly-therapeutic chuckles.

"So I take it from your little speech that it's safe to say that you're not going to make me a grandfather in the near future, _huh Squall?_"

…Or not, seeing as Squall was as rigid as a board and as pink as a peony when his father playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"_Can we please err…__**not **__talk about that?_"

"Okay, okay I'll stop _but-_" A small fit of chuckles interrupted his speech. "-I have to admit that it was kind of amusing hearing you stutter like that. I guess the infamous Loire nervous tic didn't skip a generation after all. I just hope that you didn't inherit the leg cramps too."

'_-All the more reason __**not**__ to have children.' _he sardonically mused. '_Hyne forbid if any child of mine shares their paternal grandfather's – no, __**either**__ of their grandfathers' traits.' _

Another ironic thought surfaced. _'…And knowing my luck in that respect, I wouldn't be surprised if I was an accident or if Ellone was adopted._'

"Well… you sure didn't get the whole 'staring off into space' thing from me, that's from your mother."

He blinked. "…_What?_"

Laguna laughed again. "You were out thinking about something, weren't you?"

Squall shifted uncomfortably. "…Yeah, I was."

"-Mind sharing?"

"_Err_…no."

"That's what I figured but I'd thought I'd ask anyway. So… can we talk about the situation again, I think we got a little…um, _off-topic_."

He sighed. "-Other than knowing that she dislikes her father for ignoring her and that she's bothered by him dating this woman because of her uncanny resemblance to her mother, I honestly don't know anything. She doesn't talk about it all that much and when she does, she gets…well, for a lack of a better term, emotionally disturbed."

"Hm. If it really goes that deep, should we do something to help the both of them reconcile? The way the both of you phrased it earlier made it seem like this was only for a week or two, not anything long-term."

He shook his head. "No. This is something she has to do on her own terms, forcing her to face this sooner wouldn't help."

"Okay, very well then. I won't interfere, but-" Laguna's expression turned serious, as did his tone. "-if her father calls and asks for her, Rinoa will have to be the one handling it, not me, not you. I don't want either of us to get any more involved than we already are."

Squall nodded and quietly left the office space to go back upstairs.

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After the door creaked open and he took roughly three steps, he stopped.

'_I forgot about her taking a nap. …Maybe I should leave._'

As he turned on his heel to leave, some noisy rustling made him rethink his actions, he swivelled back. _Maybe she woke up, _he scarcely thought. Taking a few strides towards the bed again, it became apparent that it wasn't the case, seeing her half-entangled in the bed's sheets with her limbs poking out in all directions. Squall inwardly smiled. It wasn't a common occurrence for him to see people look as ridiculous in their sleep as they were when awake.

When she shifted again, he couldn't help but gravitate towards her, noticing something peculiar. As he inched closer, the indelible proof confirmed his otherwise-unclear suspicions. He tried readjusting things to fix this problem but to no avail.

'_Why does it not surprise me that she'd wriggle around and tangle the sheets enough to make herself cold? I don't think I can move anything without waking her up._'

He glanced around and in turn, remembered something. _'…Hold on. I think there are some extra blankets in the drawers.'_

Before he could even think of checking the drawers though, something had already caught his foot after taking half a step forward. More like a couple of _somethings _once he realized that the pale-yellow blanket he plucked off the floor covered a scribble-laden page and the corresponding pen. Just as he bent down once more to collect the things after soundly covering Rinoa with her blanket, the page's title involuntarily grabbed his attention. He screwed his eyes in concentration.

'_Ten things you'd never know about me?_'

--------

_**Ten things you'd never know about me**_

_1. __I have my father's smile._

_2. My all-time favourite dessert is double-chocolate chip cookies._

_3. Once I tried to dye__ blue streaks into my hair but they turned out honey-brown instead. I guess I didn't read the box._

_4. I used to think I was really flexible but then I found out that I was double-jointed._

_5. Outside last Saturday, my most embarrassing moment was when I was 14 and ended up walking into someone's locker and falling on top of their science project. The worst part was that the thing I accidentally sat on left a huge red stain on my pants and I didn't notice until I figured out why people were snickering at me all day._

_6. My middle name is Christine which is, oddly enough, my mother's middle name too._

_7. I can't sing if my life depended on it but I can play songs on the piano just by hearing them once._

_8. I picture dead bunnies in my head just so I don't giggle during Mr. Janis's 'personal hygiene' lectures – especially when he starts talking with his hands._

_9. If I could only drink one thing for the rest of my days, I would drink chocolate milk – with a straw in it of course._

_10. Last year, when we had to write a short story in Mrs. Pine's class, all I did was write what happened to me that week (all of the names changed) and when I got it back, she told me I had a very good imagination and gave it an A+. _

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Holding the paper in hand, Squall carefully looked back to make sure Rinoa was still sleeping. Sure enough when she was, he rubbed his eyes with his index and forefinger. Then it hit him.

'_Wait. …Who was that list actually intended for? What if I wasn't supposed to read it?_'

'_Well, it's already too late to put it down innocently…_'

'_At least it there wasn't anything incriminating or overly personal._'

'_Still…_'

He put page on the nearby end-table, blank side up. '…_I guess there's only one way to remedy this._'

He discarded the pen's cap and started to copy the other side's title word for word.

--------

_**Ten things you'd never know about me**_

_1. My favo__urite colour is white._

_2. The fingers on my right hand can't distinguish between hot and cold._

_3. From what I was told two years ago, I was supposed to have a twin but he didn't survive._

_4. I've had my Revolver gunblade since I was nine._

_5. I didn't start speaking until I was nearly three. Even then, my first words were, 'Go away.'_

_6. I've never heard myself laugh, not even once._

_7. When I was younger, I used to carry around a book and pretend to read it so nobody would bother me. Later, the charade became too hard to fake so I started reading for real and ended up enjoying it._

_8. If I don't wear anything on my feet, I can walk on my hands._

_9. The one day I was running away from Ellone when she was trying to dress me up, my mother saw me and I thought I heard her mumble, 'I guess he's right, Squall does look __**exactly**__ like me once you put him in a dress.' _

_10. _

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Squall stopped writing for a moment, thinking about what to put for the last thing to make it an even ten. Then it came to him. Seeing as Rinoa had put her most embarrassing moment outside from Saturday, he figured that he owed it to her to write his. Thinking back, it was same moment Laguna had started to mention the day they'd both returned from his little secondary-poisoning stint in the hospital. He started jotting it down.

A little later on, once he was satisfied with the contents and wording of number ten, he slid the sheet in a noticeable place where he'd presume she'd find it easily. Now it was only a matter of time before she'd wake up and read the page.

As he walked out of the room and into his own, he smoothed his hair a little.

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'_**Knock. Knock.**_'

Sitting at his desk, Squall turned back and cautiously eyed the door.

'_I guess she had to wake up sooner or later._'

"…Come in."

When the door creaked open a sliver, the teenager narrowed his eyes. Since when was Rinoa taller than him?

The door opened even more, revealing his father instead. "Squall…is all that loud laughing coming from the guest room or in here?"

Squall shrugged. "It's not me, so it must be Rinoa."

Laguna's eyebrows arched slightly. "Um…is there any reason she'd be laughing so hard? I heard her from downstairs."

"I…might have an idea," He slowly got up from the desk chair. "I'll go check."

"Thanks." His father left the door ajar and presumably went back downstairs. Squall followed suit and but stayed upstairs. Moments later, once he had knocked on the semi-opened guest room's door and let himself in, it wasn't long before a red-faced Rinoa noticed him at the doorway.

"I take it you've…read the letter."

Her head tilted slightly. "Um…no, I didn't read anything."

"Then…why were you laughing so hard?"

"Oh that." Her face reddened even more. "I…um, tripped out of bed and the way I fell out was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but laugh at myself, landing on my funny bone didn't help either. So what was this _letter_ you were talking about?"

He felt his face heat up significantly. "…About thirty minutes ago, while you were sleeping, I came across a page and-"

Rinoa's eyes lit up. "-Oh, you mean the list I wrote?"

He nodded demurely. "Yes, it was that. The title caught my eye and before I knew it…I had read the entire thing."

She rakishly smirked. "…And what does that have to do with me reading it? I already know what's on it."

"Right after I'd finished, it occurred to me that the list might have been for somebody else so I…wrote something on the back of it."

She shook her head. "Don't worry, it was for you, I was going to put it on your desk after my nap. But now you've got me all puzzled. What did you write that you thought I'd laugh at?"

He walked past her, retrieved the paper and handed it to her. "See for yourself."

She briefly glanced at the top before looking back at him. "Oh, a list of things I'd never know about you, _huh?_ Sounds interesting, I think I'll read it right now."

Not even a second later and she was already reading away, her ever-changing expressions giving pretty accurate indications of which part she was on at each moment, ending with her going into a slight giggling fit.

"…Now do you understand what I meant?"

"_Hee…yeah aha…_" She stifled the remaining giggles and pointed at some lines. "Numbers four through six didn't surprise me, although one, two and seven sort of did. I want to see you do eight. Three and nine made my jaw drop but ten takes the cake…which explains the giggling. Either way, I think I need to ask you some follow-up questions."

"-_Shoot._"

"Okay, was this twin of yours identical or non-identical?"

"…I was told that he was supposed to be identical."

"How did you figure out you had no thermal feeling in your one hand's fingers?"

"One day I had my right hand on the stove top and didn't realize it was on until I lifted my hand and saw the heat blisters. On another, I went to get something from the freezer and noticed that my fingers weren't cold like the rest of my arm was."

"-Can I see you walk on your hands?"

"Maybe later."

"Two last questions. One, how did you mistake the ladies' room for the men's? And two, how you manage to get there in that completely chewed-up bathing suit without anybody noticing? Surely someone must have seen a practically-naked twelve-year old making a beeline to the washrooms."

"To answer the first part, I wasn't preoccupied with looking up at the moment, and for the second, running like hell helps."

Rinoa giggled a little. "Can I make a guess and say that your beach episode was the starting point of your track and field career?"

"No. There was something before that."

"-In the mood to share?"

"…I think I'll save it for another list."

"Aw, you're no fun."

"Don't push your luck," he tersely countered, "-you're lucky I even divulged that much."

"Okay, point taken. So…did you have any follow-up questions for my list? I'd be happy to return the favour."

'_I can't think of much, most of her list was pretty straight-forward. Well maybe…_'

"…How did you find out you were double-jointed?"

"Oh, I found out in Gym two years ago during the gymnastics unit. I was showing a bunch of girls this one thing I could do with my legs and when even the most flexible girls couldn't do it, the thought of being double-jointed crossed my mind, and sure enough, when I asked Dr. Kadowaki to check, it turned out that I was."

He smirked a little.

"Is the thought of me bending in weird positions making you smile Squall?"

The miniscule grin died. "…I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

"_Hey_,_ I didn't mean it that way!_" she indignantly shouted. "Hyne, your mind must _really_ be in the gutter."

'_NO. Wait. She didn't mean it like…? –Huh? …I'm confused._'

He gave her a tired look. "-I only smirked because the fact that we both have unusual talents is kind of an odd coincidence."

"Fair enough. But if you wanted me to show you my '_unusual talent_', you could have just asked."

"No, it's fine."

"Darn, I was going to make a deal so that I could see you walk on your hands."

He let out a small sigh. "…You wanted to see me walk on my hands that badly?"

"Yes, I'd really like to."

"Move back."

As she proceeded to move out of the way, he tucked in his shirt to prepare for the stunt. A shot of pain raced along his hip when his hand accidentally grazed the wound after making an adjustment. He gritted his teeth and paid it no heed.

He looked at her leisurely sitting on the bed's edge. "I won't be able to go far since this is a smaller room."

"That's okay."

Placing his hands on the carpet, Squall steadied himself and before he knew it, his mind took a back seat to the carefully executed sequence of movements. Soon another minute passed and he barely registered his legs' descent, only the warm stinging below his stomach.

"_That was amazing Squall!_"

He looked down and noticed a faint red line marring the bottom of his shirt. He lifted the corner of it to check.

"…_Squall?_"

The cut must have opened when he'd arched his back when he was on his hands. He finally acknowledged Rinoa's voice by looking at her. He noticed her eyes glance over the line of crimson and that they'd lost their previous shimmer.

"…Does it hurt?"

"-It's nothing, minor bleeding if anything."

"If you say so. -Hey, wasn't Dr. Kadowaki supposed to make sure that it was healed and everything?"

He suppressed a wry smirk. "_Supposed _is the key word. But now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if she only made sure that the wounds wouldn't get infected and nothing else. I never experience these sorts of flare-ups."

"Hm…So you think she skimped on your treatment to teach you a lesson? That's mean."

"It wouldn't surprise me. I've…been in there a lot as of late."

She grinned. "I'll say. With all of your mishaps in class and-" She stopped in mid-sentence. "Wait, if you're gone, who's going to be my partner for the test?"

"I was told that there's a more-than-likely chance that you'll get Seifer's old partner…whoever that is."

"Well _that _won't do me any good. I'm used to practicing with you, not '_whoever that is'_. Knowing my luck, they'll have a completely different weapon and_- …Ugh, this blows._"

"You'll be fine Rinoa."

She pouted. "Yeah I know but…I wanted to do that test with you and show everyone how good we are as a team, in the Garden and everything. That can't happen with anybody else, only you. Hyne, I think I'll drop that class and save myself the headache. Besides, I think I left my Pinwheel at the house anyway."

He shook his head. "No, I remember putting that away in the closet."

She hopped off the bed to go check and quickly came back. "Okay, so you did but…_What about school?_ What if my father finds me there and orders me to come home? I don't want to have to drop out."

He shook his head again. "You won't have to do either. He can't _technically_ force you to do anything you don't want to do since you're eighteen. And even if he tries…I'll be there."

"You will?"

"I stand by what I said on your birthday."

The grin reappeared larger than ever. "I know I said this before but I'll say it again, I really, _really_ appreciate all of the sacrifices you're making for me."

Before he had the chance to correct her, she went on the tip of her toes and planted a soft, innocent peck on his cheek.

He stood there blankly, uncharacteristically befuddled. "_…Why can't I remember what I was going to say?_"

"Then I must be doing my job right because you didn't think that, you _said_ that."

He blinked and during that blink of an eye she leaned up and lightly kissed him again. Somehow the notion of mentally berating himself melted away in that very instant.

"_-You…didn't catch what I said after that second kiss, did you?_"

"…Sorry, my mind was elsewhere."

"Well, what I had said was that maybe we should celebrate and go do something."

"Like what?"

"Go out somewhere?"

"You have a place in mind?"

"Not really. Actually…maybe a nice stroll around the block before supper would be good."

"-Sounds doable."

"Okay let's go."

"Now?"

"Now is a good time as any Squall."

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"Hm. It feels like the wind really died down."

"…You realize that discussing the weather is a sign of a deteriorating conversation right?"

She swatted him playfully but they kept walking at the same pace. "Squall, stop being such a meany."

"Stop talking about the weather and maybe I'll think about it."

"So what do you think of…_um_…popsicles?"

He rolled his eyes. "If you wanted me to stop being mean, taking the weird conversation route won't help you any."

Now she was the one who was rolling her eyes. "Okay, so what can I talk about that won't incur your sarcastic wrath?"

"Talk about something worth listening to."

"Sure, I can do that. Um…" She put her hands in her coat pockets. "So you think I should go to school tomorrow or stay at your house since I'm not due back at school until Thursday?"

"I think it would be easier if you stayed at the house. I'm not scheduled to be back until Thursday either."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Anything special you want to do tomorrow?"

"…Nothing that I can think of off of the top of my head."

Rinoa buried her hands even further down her pockets. "Then would you like to…practice techniques with me?"

"…Sure."

"Good. At least this way I'll be in top form for '_whoever that is'._"

"…Didn't you want to _drop_ that class?"

She shook her head. "I changed my mind; I have a better plan now."

'_Wonder what that would be._'

"…_Squall?_"

"Hm?"

"Could you do me a really big favour?"

"What is it?"

"Hold my hand."

He gave her a perplexed look. "How am I supposed to do that if it's deep inside your pocket?"

"Oops, hold on."

After he briefly peered down at her now-visible hand, Squall kept his perplexed look.

"Your hand doesn't look cold."

Her eyes met up with his. She had an amused look on her face. "Squall…that's not why I asked you to hold it."

"Then-"

"-I want you to hold it to prove something to me." she interjected.

They kept on walking. "Prove what?"

The amused look dulled as she playfully rolled her eyes. "Squall, I know for a fact that you _know_ what I'm trying to see here."

He sighed. "You don't expect me to uphold what I said."

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't expect you to; it's just that…words can only vouch for so much you know? Sometimes you have to see the promise in action before you _believe- Squall?_"

She stopped in mid-sentence and mid-step. He was holding her hand and looking her square in the eye.

"I don't make promises I can't keep Rinoa."

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**End of Chapter Comments – **Sorry for the delay. I guess posting those two Reinventing Me chapters back-to-back kind of screwed me up. Oh well, I will persevere. Anywho, I hope you guys didn't find this chapter pointless, since, _well_…there was a point to it, making some big transitions go smoother and whatnot. I was going to write about the entire two days Squall and Rinoa would have at the house but I figured that it would be too long-winded…and take forever to write.

Either way, hope you had fun,

_-Emerald-Latias_


	16. Chapter XVI – Twilight Conversations

**Author's Notes –** Sorry for the delay…_yada, yada, yada…_Hope this'll be good_…yada, yada, yada…_ Squall and Rinoa are going to get naked…_yada, yada-_

_-Got you! _

Don't worry, I was only kidding. Just like my English teacher got me and my entire class off-guard on the first day of my last high-school semester by talking in French, saying that he was going to teach the whole class that way so that we'd appreciate English more. …Okay, why I brought that up, I'll never know. Hehe.

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**Chapter XVI – Twilight Conversations**

"Well that was a nice walk."

"Hm."

"You know, you really surprised me back there."

Just as he was about to open the front door, he paused midway through to look back at her.

"…I needed to start somewhere."

She smirked. "-True. Just wait until tomorrow, you'll learn tons then."

Although he had outstretched his arm to reach the front door's knob; Squall kept his eye on Rinoa's beaming and giddy expression.

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

"-It's a _promise_ of course." she asserted confidently as Squall opened the door and walked inside. She immediately followed.

"Hey you two, have a nice stroll?" The voice belonged to his father, who was coming from the nearby living room.

"Well I know I did," Rinoa said enthusiastically, "-but I couldn't tell you about Squall Mr. _Loi_…_err,_ _Laguna_."

Laguna's face split into a comical grin. "I kind of expected that. Anyway, since the tree guy's supposed to be coming later tonight and I'm in no mood to make something, do you guys mind if I ordered out?"

Both teenagers quickly showed no signs of objection in their individual responses.

"Good. I'll dial the number now."

Just as the older man was going back into the living room to use the phone, Rinoa unceremoniously darted into the kitchen and eventually started opening cupboards and drawers randomly at will. A moment later, when he figured out what she was trying to do, Squall strode into kitchen and lent her a hand.

Although she had finally found the right cupboard by the time he was right behind her, he still extended his one arm over her right shoulder and grabbed the large plates. Once his hand had a firm hold on them, she turned around and looked at him straight in the eye.

"I would have gotten them you know."

Dishes still in hand, he shrugged, turned towards the small table behind him in the right hand corner and placed one at each seat. After he set down the third plate, Squall felt a couple of light taps on his shoulder. He twisted to face her once more.

"What is it?"

"-Where's your forks, knives and cups?"

"Don't worry about that, I can get them."

"Fine, but can I place them on the table?"

He arched his eyebrows. "…Why are you making a big deal about this?"

"Because."

"_-Because why?_"

"Because I want to make myself useful."

He looked at her skeptically. "_…With dishes?_"

"No…with anything I can do around the house in general, dishes included."

He sighed. "Rinoa…you're not a-"

Before he could finish his sentence, his father interjected himself into the conversation.

"-Squall, we have a problem."

He turned to face the kitchen's entrance where Laguna was standing. "-What kind of problem?"

"The restaurant I called must have closed down or something, because I got one of those automated voice messages."

"…Isn't there somewhere else you can call?"

The older man looked at his son rather sheepishly. "Uh no, because…I _um_…don't know any other places."

"-_I have an idea._"

The raven-haired teenager's voice must have effectively caught both men's attentions because both of their heads swiveled towards her at the same time.

"If you don't mind me going through your fridge and cupboards, I could cook something for all three of us."

Reflexively, both father and son exchanged looks with each other.

"-_Or_…I could just give you the number of this really great takeout place I know of."

"Um…" Laguna brushed away an errant strand of hair. "_Well, _I think… it would be easier if I were to just get the number off you Rinoa. I wouldn't feel right about making you cook dinner for everyone on your first night here."

"_Oh, okay._"

Right after the pair left the kitchen for the living room, Squall exhaled.

'_Why does it feel like I've dodged a bullet somehow?_'

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"_-Oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that._"

"_Well, now you do Rinoa. Squall, let me take that-_" His father got up and took away his mostly-eaten plate.

After feeling like a ghost of a spectator to the polite conversations which took place during supper and possibly the entire meal itself, Squall left his seat and went to go upstairs to get his gunblade. He and Rinoa had previously decided to practice techniques right after supper instead of the next day, timing it so that it purposely overlapped with when the tree cutter was scheduled to come.

As he continued to ascend the stairs, a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over him, causing him to cling onto the railing for an unsure second or two. His eyelids weighed down heavily by an invisible force. Then, without warning, the feeling mysteriously subsided just as fast as it came.

Dismissing it as if it were nothing, Squall resumed climbing the stairs. A minute had passed and he'd already went inside his room, retrieved the blade and was already in the process of going back down the stairs without any problems. Halfway down the stairs, he bumped into Rinoa.

"Hey Squall, already got your stuff I see."

He nodded. "Just get your Pinwheel and meet me in the basement."

"Actually…there's a problem with that."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to get it earlier and as it turned out, you put it too high up in the closet. I can't reach it. Could you come and bring it down for me?"

Instead of answering, the teenager wordlessly turned around and started climbing the stairs once more. She followed him into the nearby guest room.

However, when he took a couple of fast strides up to the top of the stairs, he inadvertently triggered the same dizzy sensations he'd experienced not too long ago. Only this time, he felt a certain fatigue coursing through his body. Nevertheless, he pressed on and went inside the guest room, working through the foggy daze. But just like the time before, the sensations quickly passed.

Peering past the initial left corner of the reverse L-shaped room and at the empty bed, Squall narrowed his eyes in concentration. Something wasn't equating here. Walking closer and closer towards the closet, which was on the bed's left side, he thought he saw something behind the opened closet door. Then, when he finally saw what it was, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Rinoa, why did you ask me to help you if there was a chair _behind-_"

When he turned around, Squall was greeted with a mischievous smile. Then he saw the weapon attached to her forearm.

"…_Got you._"

Instead of getting annoyed like he thought he would, he tossed her a wry look. "…Is this another test of yours?"

"-If you want it to be," In mid-sentence, she picked up and matched his expression and tone perfectly, "-but I think the term 'practical joke' fits better, don't you think?"

"-I couldn't tell you."

And with that, he walked back to the room's door. However, Rinoa prevented him from doing so successfully. She had a hand firmly clamped onto one of his wrists. So needless to say, he didn't go very far.

"Are you feeling alright?" she inquired.

Looking downward into her chocolate-brown eyes, he shrugged.

"I suppose I am. Why do you ask?"

"-Because you actually took a joke. And come to think of it, you seemed a little spaced out at dinner. Wait a minute; let me see your face–"

"I don't see the point of-"

An errant yawn escaped from his mouth.

"–You're still tired, _aren't you?_"

"I'll…be alright."

"Squall, I'm not going to_**- –– -**__if you're__**- –––– -**__See? You're already n__**- – –––––– – -**_Squall, go to bed."

His eyes lingered on her for the longest time.

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'_Ugh…these sheets are far too tight…I'm getting up.'_

After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Squall opened them, only to be engulfed inky darkness. His initial thought went to trying to decipher whether it was late at night or early morning. If it hadn't been for the alarm clock's glaring red LCD numbers screaming '_2:52 am_' from across the room on the oak dresser, it could have easily been anyone's guess.

Wait a minute. _**His**_ room didn't have an alarm clock across the room; it was supposed to be on the nightstand beside him. A surge of panic hit him, realizing that this was the guest room and not his own. How did he get here? No, no. The question should be; w_hy_ was he here? And why couldn't he remember last night? _Did something happen?_ _**Ouch!**_ Why was his lower body aching so much all of a sudden? …_**Uh oh.**_

To his left, he noticed that Rinoa was beside him, sleeping serenely, despite the fact that was she only wearing a red midriff-baring pajama tank top and had next to no comforter covering her from the waist up. The big smile plastered all over her face worried him.

When he leaned over to check the floor for anything peculiar, he winced as the area surrounding his hip suddenly ignited with pain – the kind usually reserved for newly-formed injuries. Squall stopped for a moment to think back.

'_This isn't right. Even when the cut opened up earlier today, it didn't hurt this bad. And I don't remember doing anything to aggravate it-'_

Right then, he forcefully pulled the covers to get out of the bed.

'_-What the?_'

'_-How come there's blood staining the sheets everywhere?_ _And what I'm I doing with no shirt on? I don't remember taking it off or-_'

His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Looking down, he realized that although he still had them on, his pants were unbuttoned and the zipper was halfway undone, past the point of accidental undoing. Instinctively, he fixed this and quickly scrambled out of the bed.

Getting away from the bloody mess, his hip seared with hurt, weakening his vision in the already dim room. He took a scarce look at the sheets and located his shirt on top of the huddle of blankets, which lay exactly in the middle, also speckled with a fair amount of blood at the bottom. He stumbled past the bed, eyes widening in horror after spotting another faint but still-startling trail of crimson streak across the otherwise-pure, white carpet, leading from the middle of the room to the edge of the bed. He looked away, his eyes eventually focusing on the end table beside Rinoa.

Ultimately, it was a poor choice of view because his eye inevitably wandered back to Rinoa's sleeping form and… he couldn't take it anymore. He left the room.

After he had carefully meandered downstairs, Squall aimlessly walked until his eyes met up with the now cut-down tree through the large pane of glass in the living room, eying the stump meticulously in the haunting twilight.

'…_One day here and I've already screwed it up for her. I don't care if she's smiling right now._'

A long-winded sigh escaped his throat.

'_The worst part is that I don't remember anything. I don't remember taking away her innocence. I don't remember losing mine… all I have to show for it this a gap. -A gap in my Hyne-forsaken memory…_'

'_Was it stress? Was it tiredness, or was it a lack of judgement that caused this? What could it have possibly been?_'

Another sigh escaped the confines of his body.

'_I never would have guessed that I would have done something like this, not this way. I thought I was a decent person.'_

'…_The worst part is that now he's going think that his assumptions were true. Hyne, that's a slap in the face.' _

'_Still…I need to know what actually happened… but I can't ask. -Not now at least._'

'…_I guess I'd better clean up the mess in the bedroom. Nothing else I can do until morning._'

He turned around to go back up and almost had a heart attack when he saw Rinoa standing right before him, looking at him blankly. He felt his throat automatically constrict in her presence.

"Why are you down here Squall?" she asked innocently. "_It's three in the morning._"

"_I'm_…I went down here to think_…_"

Curiousness shone clearly in her dark eyes. "-About?"

'-_About how I'm hoping that haven't done what my father joked about today._'

"About…_things._"

"You look really…_tense_. Why don't we sit down on the couch together?"

For the first time in his life, his face showed genuine hurt.

"…_I don't deserve your kindness._"

She blinked in confusion. "…What are you talking about?"

"_-What I've done to you._ I don't deserve your kindness after what I've done to you."

She blinked again. "_I'm_…not following you Squall. You haven't done anything you should be apologizing for."

"You don't have to make excuses."

"…Are you sure that whatever it is you're talking about didn't happen in a nightmare like before?"

"…Stop dancing around the subject. I know something happened even if I don't remember anything."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, what in Hyne's name are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what happened right after you pulled that practical joke."

"…Squall, that wasn't a big deal, things like that can happen. You're only human."

…And there went his last straw.

"Stop dismissing it as if it was nothing - you don't _**understand.**_ I woke up to find myself in the wrong bed with bloody sheets, my lower body aching, with no shirt on and unzipped pants. Do you have any idea of how that would feel, to wake up like that? Knowing that you've done something that you can't take back, without any recollection of it whatsoever?"

"Squall, _you're-_"

"I'm what, Rinoa? _I'm what?_"

"_-You're mistaken._"

He narrowed his eyes. "-How so? There couldn't possibly be another explanation for this."

"…I think I'd better sit you down."

Despite her efforts to lead him to the sofa, he remained where he stood.

"Why do you have to sit _me_ down? I was the one who instigated the whole mess."

"Because _you're_ the one who doesn't understand."

"-Understand _what_ Rinoa?"

"You didn't do anything to me Squall. You were drowsy enough to the point where you lost your footing with your gunblade still in your hand and the blade managed to cut open that wound near your hip and then some. Whether you didn't get up because you were really tired or unconscious, I wouldn't know."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"-The blood was there because I dragged you onto the bed and the reason why you woke up without your shirt on was because it kept on getting in the way when I tried to properly clean and disinfect the area. I thought that I was done at that point, but then I noticed that the cut ran a little lower so…"

"…_So that's why the pants were undone._"

With her face threatening to turn a violent shade of red, Rinoa quickly nodded.

"_That…explains a lot._ I have one question though."

"_Um…er…okay._"

"Does _he_ know anything about this?"

"_No._ He was outside the entire time. I even double-checked just to make sure."

A wave of relief hit him. "Good. Now all we'll have to do is clean up the mess so it'll stay that way."

Rinoa gave him a peculiar stare. "…_Right now? -At three in the morning?_"

"We have no choice Rinoa. He always does laundry Wednesday morning."

"…I see. I'll get those sheets then."

"-And I'll find some stain remover."

"Sounds like a plan."

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The gentle hum of the washing machine was soothing in a way, almost comforting to his ears. As he heard the water cascading softly and imagined the machine slowly erasing all traces of seeped-in stains, notions poured into head like a heavy downpour as she stood there beside him, eyeing the contraption as much as he was.

"…_We've gone through a lot, haven't we?_"

He slowly turned his head, taking in her calm expression, waiting for her to elaborate furthermore on her own her own question. He knew that she wasn't searching for an answer from him.

Her eyes finally met with his. "I mean, it's hard to believe that we've been together for about a week and a half, yet it feels like it's been much, much longer, you know? With those two weeks before and all the stuff that's happened during, I feel like we have something that some couples still don't have even after a year. It's almost been like a fairy tale."

The other teenager snorted. "…Well, I'm no knight in shining armour."

"-Don't sell yourself short Squall." she chided. "You've already done plenty of things that most people wouldn't even think of doing in your position. Letting me stay here is one of them."

"I don't need a hero complex Rinoa, I just did what I thought was right."

"Well if you won't listen to me talk about that, I want to ask you another question."

The machine stopped humming and a faint '_Ping!_' sound was heard. Squall got up from leaning against the wall.

"Hold on, I've got to put this in the dryer." he mouthed to her.

But she didn't wait, opting to pose her question when he still had the large ball of soaked sheets in his grasp.

"-Why were you so bothered by the idea of doing _'something that you can't take back'_ without remembering a thing? Before this, I was under the impression that all guys thought of sex as a physical thing and nothing more."

The sheets landed in the dryer's drum with a resounding splat. The fact that the machine's door had been shut louder than necessary only came as an afterthought to his ears.

He put his hands on the corners of the dryer and his upper body stiffened. "-Why are you asking me that?"

"Because," She walked closer until she was finally beside him again. "I've noticed that you always get bothered by the subject, even when I'm only joking around and now I'm sort of curious as to why. Not that I'm implying anything else."

He took an earnest glance at her in the sullen atmosphere before moving his gaze back at the pearl-white dryer's top.

"-It has to do with the way I planned out my life before you came along."

"-Hm?"

He reestablished eye contact with her once more.

"-In order to keep myself self-sufficient, I knew that I'd have to avoid make ties with people. If you sleep with someone, you never know what they're expecting from you after the fact. It was a complication I didn't want to risk. As much as I wanted to get through life alone, I didn't want to screw up anyone else's life in the process."

"But what about now Squall? Your reasoning only applies to back when you used to want to go through life alone. It doesn't apply to your situation now."

He sighed. "I guess I don't like hearing about it now because I don't completely trust myself anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the person I used to be when we were locked inside the school to the person I was when we first were together."

She nodded in comprehension.

"Even if you compared that second person to who I am now, there's still a difference. And the fact that it happened in such a short time worries me. If the pace stays the same, I'm afraid that I'll rush into things and mess everything up."

"Squall, you shouldn't be worried, it's just like I said before. We've been through so much that it feels like we've been together a lot longer than we technically are. So in a way, the radical changes you perceived only seemed to happen fast because not too many people have experienced that many events jam-packed together like we did."

"Thanks…I feel better."

She smiled. "-It's what I'm here for."

"That reminds me," He lifted his hands off the dryer and stood up straight. "I should have told you this earlier, but, despite what you make yourself believe, you're not a burden in this house."

"Um, what does that have to do with what I said?"

"-Because it's exactly the kind of useful thing you already do here. …You help me keep my sanity. And trust me, my father's going to thank you repeatedly for that. Hyne only knows that he's dealt with enough of me as of late."

"Don't you think you're being a little too hard on yourself?"

"-I'm not. When a man that laid-back suddenly wants to have a serious talk about something and tells you how much he worries about your recent behavior, you know you've crossed a line."

"Squall, he's just worried like any parent should be, just because he's more easy-going doesn't mean he cares less."

"I know, but… I'm not used to seeing him like that."

"Well, think of it this way, how do you think he feels about seeing you this way compared to what you were like before? I'd be willing to bet that he feels the same way about you as you felt about seeing him worry like that."

"……Maybe I should lock myself inside my room for a couple of days just to reassure him."

"_Hey!_" Rinoa playfully whined. "-That's not fair to your _guest_. Besides I didn't mean it in a bad way, I meant it like… something good that …just takes a little getting used to."

"Gee, thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless, you know that?"

Instead of answering her normally, the streak of sarcasm continued. "No I didn't. Thanks for telling me."

She exhaled loudly. "So I take it that your sarcasm is something that's here to stay?"

"…You know that there's no point in answering that, right?"

"-Ooh shut up, you big meany!"

And shut up he did. In fact, he shut up for so long that it must have bothered her enough to the point where she started to do random things just to get him to speak again. Truth be told, her attempts were beginning to amuse him.

"So…how much longer do you think those sheets will be in there for?"

Silence.

"Um…you tired yet?"

More silence.

"-We still on for practicing tomorrow?"

Crickets chirped in the background.

"Squall, when I told you to shut up, you didn't have to take what I said literally."

Tumbleweed rolled in between them. Okay, _imaginary _tumbleweed.

Now it was evident that she was getting frazzled. "If you don't say anything I'm going to start tickling you. And trust me; I'm not going to let you off easy like last time."

Finally, he caved. "…Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"No, remind _me_ never to get on your '_I'm-shutting-up-on-purpose-just-to-annoy-her'_ side."

"Whatever. And to answer your questions, about another fifteen minutes, just a little bit, and yes."

"Okay, good."

Another long silence washed over them before anything else was said.

"Squall?"

He came out of his slight daze and looked at her. Something about the way she was holding her arms and how her eyes would occasionally dart to the side made her look a little anxious.

"If you don't mind…could you answer something for me?"

"Go ahead."

"From all the stuff you said earlier, does that mean you _haven't_…? _-Nevermind, forget I asked._"

He consciously picked that opportune moment to rub his eyes.

"…I think you already knew the answer to that one."

"…So was that the other reason why you were so worried?"

"No. When I woke up and saw the blood, I was worried that-"

"-It would have been my first time?"

He lowered his head. "Yeah… Not to mention if my father ever found out, I don't think he'd take me seriously anymore, especially after today."

"Why, did he say something when he asked you to go into his office?"

"After I'd finally convinced him that nothing happened after the dance, he replied by asking if what I said meant that I wouldn't be making him a grandfather in the near future."

"_Oh._"

"Rinoa…if it's alright with you, can we stop talking about this?"

"Sure." She came closer. "Um…I think the sheets are done, can I check?"

"No, there's still another ten minutes at least."

"Oh, okay. So, is there…anything you want to talk about while we're waiting?"

"Actually, there is."

Her head tilted in curiosity.

"…I never thanked you for watching over me while I was unconscious."

She smiled. "It's no problem Squall. Besides, I think I should be used to playing your nurse by now."

A small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I'd hate to break it to you but you might not have much of a job anymore."

"Aww… Why do you say that?"

"Since I'm going to the doctors for my insomnia and because I can't possibly get injured in a class I'm not in."

"Well, _I wouldn't-_ _**I mean**_, at least it's good to hear that you're getting that insomnia taken care of."

"…Yeah, I know. The last time I actually slept decently was Friday night."

"-Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"That's funny because now that I think of it, Friday was the last time I slept well too."

Squall arched an eyebrow. "…That's an odd coincidence."

"Yeah, it's a shame our sleep was interrupted though."

He looked down. "Hm."

"So…how much longer until those sheets are dried now?"

"Eight minutes."

"Ugh…I want to go to sleep _now_. My eyelids are getting heavier than bricks."

"If you're that tired then why don't you go lie on the couch? I'll wake you when everything's done."

"You sure that'd be okay? I might not wake up."

"It'll be fine."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

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Twenty-five minutes later and Squall had already taken out the freshly-dried sheets, placed them back onto the mattress and doused whatever was left of the carpet cleaner onto the still lingering reddish-orange patches. Now all that was left was to go wake up Rinoa and bring her upstairs at the ungodly time of four-thirty in the morning. Wiping away the excess sleep from his eyes, he only hoped that he would guide her to her room safely without falling asleep again.

After carefully descending the stairs and making his way into the living room, Squall smirked. There she was, passed out cold on the sofa, body curled up in a little ball. Approaching the front of the couch, he cautiously extended his hand to rouse her from her slumber by gently nudging her shoulder. It took quite a bit of time before her eyes opened and started focusing on him.

"…Did I wake up?"

He nodded. Moments later, she slowly got up and obediently followed him upstairs. Once they had made it past the steps though, Rinoa stopped. Whether it was because she was disoriented or something else, he wasn't sure.

"Squall…" A large yawn weaved itself into her sentence. "…I'm going to sit down for a moment."

"-Here?"

"Yeah…here." She absentmindedly slumped herself down, back leaned against the wall. "…You should come sit too."

Before he could say anything, she pulled him right beside her on the carpet by yanking his arm. Crude, but efficient.

"-Not in the mood to argue?" he quipped sardonically.

Her smile gave away to another yawn. "Nope. …Too tired."

"Then why don't you go to sleep?"

"Because I wanted to...spend one last moment with you…" Another yawn escaped. "…just in case if I wake up tomorrow and realize that it was all a…" Her eyes slowly closed. "…dream."

And with that, she lulled into slumber, head drooping forward, the one hand that dragged him down earlier now losing its grip on his arm, her body starting to lean to the side. But before anything happened, he rose to full height and tried to wake her up, but to no avail. He guessed that she didn't have a second wind, or must have been a heavy sleeper.

'…_Looks like I have no choice but to carry her._'

As he awkwardly bent down, while trying not to irritate the newly re-injured wound; he made an attempt to pick her up by lifting her from under her arms. But as luck would have it, or in this case, wouldn't have it, she didn't budge an inch. Figuring that it had to do with how far back he had himself crouched from her, he tightened the gap a little more.

'……'

"…_Got you again._"

When he had come closer, Rinoa had coincidentally chosen that moment to lazily open her eyes, trace the bridge of his nose and flash him a weak version of her trademark grin. But try as she might, the joke she tried pulling didn't last as her body eased back into unconsciousness again. At least this time he was able to pick her up and bring her to the bed.

However, just as he was about to turn back and leave the room, he hastily made the decision not to. Instead, he opted to take the unoccupied side of the bed and rest his head on the pillow. And before he knew it, he fell into peaceful slumber.

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**End of Chapter Comments –** Okay, I know I said that I was going to cover the whole day Rinoa and Squall had to themselves, but…I got an idea and sorta of ran with it …so to speak. Not to mention, before I knew it, I already hit the four thousand word mark so I figured that I'd save that for the upcoming Rinoa-centric chapter.

…So if you want to accuse me of writing pointless fluff, now's the time to do it – in a review that is. Hehe…

_-Emerald-Latias_


	17. Chapter XVII – Dizzy

**Author's Notes – **Well, I've taken the liberty of picking the suggestions I felt I could work with even though I didn't hit the third milestone – I tied the number of reviews instead of surpassing it. …Ugh, somehow I _knew_ that saying something like that ahead of time would come to bite me in the ass. Go figure.

_-__Either way_, please note that this chapter's _conveniently_ Rinoa-centric, so I hope you don't mind a little extra craziness mixed into this one. Poor Squall won't know what hit him…_figuratively that is. Hehe…_

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter XVII ****– Dizzy**

Excluding the ones in her home life, surprises have always been a good thing in Rinoa's book. They offered a chance to shake things up, to have fun, but most importantly, they offered the often-sought rare instance of total calmness, where the mind momentarily forgets all that is wrong and worrisome in life and solely concentrates on the singular event unfolding.

Little did she know, after the sun's bright rays had inadvertently forced her out of her slumber, Rinoa had a surprise of her own coming her way.

Poking an arm through the thick covers, she rubbed her eyes to rid them of lingering sleep and forcefully cast the covers off to her right. A soft grumble was heard. It wasn't her.

Not expecting to hear a sound like that, Rinoa dangerously whipped her head towards the source of the noise and saw a sizeable lump underneath the sheets. No part of the said lump was visible so her curiosity urged her to figure out what in Hyne's name it was. All she knew that it wasn't Squall; he wouldn't do such a bold move after Saturday's incident and after what he admitted the other night.

But once she partially peeled back the covers on the other side, Rinoa couldn't help but gleefully smile. Her previous assumptions were proven wrong right then and there – Squall _was_ the lifeless lump on the other side of the mattress.

She looked at the clock across the room and back at his sleeping form.

"_Well Squall,_" she whispered with a dash of mischievousness, "_-it's 1:30 in the afternoon and I think it's about time you woke up._"

When there was no response after she'd shaken his shoulder lightly, Rinoa pulled most of the comforter off of him. This tactic didn't seem to work either. He remained asleep with his back facing her, his enormous scar staring her straight in the face. Unable to keep her eyes away from it, her smile soured into a sad grimace.

'_I still can't believe that all of this happened because I wasn't there. And with those scars…I doubt he'll be forgetting that any time soon unless I…_'

'-_I guess it's worth a shot._'

Extending her palm closer to his backside, Rinoa softly murmured '_Curaga_' and no sooner than the spell was spoken, a white burst of concentrated energy weaved itself around the affected area. As this was happening, the much darker scar tissue began to lighten up significantly but in the end, did not fade completely – a faint, puckered line still remained.

Rinoa's grimace reverted back to a smile once more. She knew that she'd succeeded in easing his pain, if only a little after seeing him roll from his side onto his previously-injured back. It was almost as if his body subconsciously knew that it wouldn't hurt to lie on it anymore.

Then, as luck would have it, she noticed that his other injuries and scars on his torso also appeared to have healed considerably. In spite of this good news however, she closed her eyes and sighed.

'_Now why didn't I think of doing this in the first place? I would have saved us a whole lot of awkwardness last night._'

Watching him stir slightly, she changed her mind. '_Then again, maybe it was better this way. If I hadn't accidentally made it seem like we'd fooled around, I wouldn't have found out about those insecurities he had about the fast pace he was making progress at or that he's still a- Okay, maybe that's besides the point, but-_'

Opening her eyes again, she couldn't help but grin unabashedly while she looked over at his toned and still de-shirted upper body before reprising a fraction of the seriousness her previous thoughts held.

'-_Okay, I have to admit that it __**was**__ kind of surprising. Then again, I think I was expecting a curveball from him in that department._'

Lying back down on the bed with the right side of her head on the pillow, Rinoa serenely watched the slow rise and fall of his stomach with every breath that he took. _Maybe we don't have to get up just yet_, she thought dreamily, an extreme contrast to her previous line of thinking.

Just as she was about to unwittingly close her eyes and fall into light slumber; they cracked open again upon hearing another soft grumble. Shortly after, she saw his eyes slowly open and his head turn towards her ever so subtly.

"…_Sorry if I scared you this morning._" he apologized softly, in a voice barely above a whisper.

Whether he knew it or not, Rinoa's heart melted at these words; the way he sounded right after waking up was positively endearing. Before this, she never knew that he could sound so _boyish _and_ innocent, _considering how he usually carried himself most of the time. Then again, he _had _surprised her on more than one occasion already.

"_No,_" she yawned, "-_it was nice to wake up next to you._ _So… did you sleep well?_"

"…_To be honest with you, I did._"

Rinoa smiled. "_I'd make a joke and say we should sleep together more often, but I think you'd take it the wrong way._"

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, his back now leaning against the headboard. "_Mm…_ _Saying something like that to me first thing in the morning's probably not a good idea._"

"-It's 1:30 in the afternoon Squall."

"…_Whatever._" he grumbled.

She got up partially and put her back against the headboard too. "But don't you think it's odd that we both sleep better when we happen to share the same bed? I mean, if we kept this up, you wouldn't have to go to the doctor's."

"…I don't think _he'd_ go for that. Besides, I think that the only reason we sleep better in the same bed is because we're not as stressed as we would be anywhere else."

"Hm. Makes sense."

"Rinoa," He looked at her uncertainly. "Did something else happen while I was asleep? I'm not seeing the cuts I know I had yesterday."

"Oh that. I healed them with a little bit of white magic."

The uncertain look turned into a quizzical one. "…Isn't that what you did last night?"

"No, I just cleaned them up with disinfectant and some stuff I found in the bathroom. I didn't want to risk using magic, just in case something happened like …_that one time_. But this morning, when I saw that big gash on your back again, I finally used a spell because, well, I couldn't take seeing you all beat-up because of what happened anymore. …You feel any better?"

Squall nodded just before he slid off the bed. "Much better."

Facing his direction, Rinoa cradled her legs together with her arms. "Better enough to…let me hug you now?"

He shrugged half-heartedly. "I suppose."

When she unclasped her arms, Rinoa used her legs to inch herself closer to the end of his side of the bed. Eventually, she made it to the point where her legs dangled off the edge and her fingers were knotted together on her lap expectantly, looking up at him.

"So…could I hold you to your word?"

Catching onto her little game, he replied accordingly, "…Hard to say."

She lowered her feet onto the floor and got off the bed, leisurely walking over to where he was. With her hands together hidden behind her back, she elevated herself to his height by standing on the balls of her feet. Now they stood face to face and she had a big grin on hers.

"-Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"I don't like cherries." he countered, making it more difficult to obtain her sought answer.

She rolled her eyes and went back down to normal height. "-Pretty please with a…um…gunblade on top?"

"You can't eat gunblades."

"What about a banana?"

"Not today."

"Would an apple pie appeal to you?"

"I don't have a fork or a plate."

"-How about a cookie?"

He finally put an end to the charade. "…A cookie's fine."

"_-Perfect._"

With a little more enthusiasm than necessary, Rinoa eagerly gave him a nice big hug with her arms draped around his shoulders and her head nestled at the crook of his neck, happy to know that she could do this without fear of hitting a wound or feeling him twitch in discomfort, that she could simply relish the warm feel of his bare skin underneath her fingertips and not worry. When his arms slowly found their way around her back, Rinoa closed her eyes in pure euphoria.

'…_And to think such a perfect moment started from such childish banter. This has got to be a dream._'

But when she opened her eyes again, Squall was still there, still embracing her, confirming the reality of it all. She let her body move ever so slightly until she was perfectly positioned against him once more.

"_I can feel your heartbeat Squall._" she told him softly. "_Can you feel mine?_"

He tilted his head downward, looking at her. "I can. It's hard to tell sometimes but it's definitely there."

"_Good._" She tilted her head upward, now peering into his eyes. "…_Your heart's beating faster now._"

He looked slightly to the side. "…I hadn't noticed."

"So," she started demurely, "…you ready for today?"

His gaze on her returned. "Depends on what _today_ entails. I feel better physically, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee anything."

"Oh, you're no fun Squall. I think I've got to work on broadening your mind…starting _today_."

He arched an eyebrow. "_-Should I be worried?_"

"Well I don't know." she riposted. "I was thinking about making cookies with you as my assistant, you think you can handle that?"

"In theory, I could."

"_In theory?_" she repeated quizzically. "-Why in theory?"

"Because I…tend to burn everything I put in the oven."

"**Why couldn't you just eat by yourself instead of waiting for him?"**

"**He's… very quirky about things like that. That's all."**

"…**Or is that just code for ****'**_**Squall Leonhart can't cook food for himself at all'**_**?"**

Rinoa suppressed a giggle after remembering that somewhat-recent memory. '_So I __**was**__ right about him when we were locked inside the school._'

"Okay, so how would you feel about measuring ingredients?"

"…I don't know if we have any ingredients to start with."

"It's only a basic chocolate-chip cookie recipe Squall, how hard could it be to find the ingredients in your kitchen?"

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Rinoa shook her head in disbelief as she closed the last kitchen cupboard and turned around, now looking at him.

"You guys don't have _any _flour, vanilla, baking soda _**or**_ chocolate chips?"

He shrugged passively.

"Okay…this changes things." She put her thumb to the bottom of her lip in thought. "Hm. Would it be possible to swing by a grocery store and pick up the stuff we're missing? I know I've got some money somewhere."

He shrugged again. "It doesn't matter but I don't understand why this is so important. We could do something else."

"-Like?"

"…I hadn't thought of that yet."

Rinoa smirked. "Well if you think of something, let me know, I'll be all ears. But in the mean time, I'm going to change out of my pyjamas. I'm going to go do a little grocery shopping _on my own_."

Squall rolled his eyes. "I didn't need the _subtle _hint Rinoa. I was going to go regardless."

"Oh, you wanted to come too? _I had no idea…_" she added sarcastically, her ever-burgeoning smile ruining the effect somewhat. Meanwhile, he tossed her yet another annoyed look. "Okay, okay, I'll cut it out. So are we walking there or do you have the car?"

"I have the car but if you wanted to walk, the nearest store's not too far from here."

"Well…if we wanted to make the most of the day we should use the car," she mused aloud, "-but then again, I wouldn't mind walking either. Hm. …I guess going by car would be better."

He nodded in comprehension and went out of the kitchen area to presumably go upstairs. Once she exited the room as well, she raced up the steps only to find him nowhere in sight. At the second floor, she took a careful look around the area. Walking by her room's open door, she peeked inside to find it empty the way they'd left it. Poking her head back out, Rinoa noticed that the door to his room further down the hallway was wide open as well.

At the mercy of her curiosity for the second time today, Rinoa cautiously crept towards her boyfriend's room on the tips of her toes, just as ninja-like as the first night they were officially together, minus the swishing noises.

A few well-muffled strides later and she was already nearing the foot of the door, now contemplating whether or not to go in. _Well, he couldn't be changing if he left his door wide open like this,_ she reasoned to herself. She put a foot forward only to put it back. _For all you know, it could have opened by itself, _another part of her brain rationalized,_ and besides, since when does an open door automatically mean, 'Come on in!'? Then again-_

"…Hasn't anyone ever told you curiosity killed the cat?"

"Ack!" She skyrocketed ten feet before she actually knew that he was behind her. "Squall, you scared me! Don't do that!"

"I could say the same to you."

"_Oh…_" Her face burned a bright red. "-I'm sorry, I was wondering where you went off to and I saw the open door and well… I got as far as here. So where were you anyway? I didn't see you up here."

"About that…" He ruffled a bit of hair through his fingers. "-we have a bit of a problem."

Rinoa blinked. "-Car problem?"

"Not quite." He paused for a moment. "I went to go get my keys downstairs and I couldn't find them anywhere."

"When you said _keys_, did you mean both your house _and_ car keys?"

"Yes."

"Could they be up here in your room?"

"Not likely, but I was going to check there next."

"Wait a minute." Rinoa's mind did a quick jog through the other day's events. "Did I even give your keys back to you after I drove back here yesterday?"

Without hesitation, he nodded. "I remembered getting them back while we were unpacking."

"Is it possible that they could still be in your pockets?"

"No, I checked."

"Well…if that's the case, you need any help looking for them in your room?"

"…I'd appreciate it."

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Rummaging through the last of the papers on the top of his desk, Rinoa sighed and swivelled her head towards the foot of the bed where Squall was on all fours, also looking for any sign of his elusive keys.

"I haven't found anything under the gigantic stack of homework you've got here." she declared, completely exasperated. "And now you've got me worried for History and Calculus."

He stopped his visibly-fruitless search and looked up at her. "_-What was that?_ I didn't catch a single word."

"I said that I haven't found anything under the gigantic stack of Girl Next Door magazines you've got here and it's got me worried. Those keys are history…and kaput."

He gave her _the_ _look_. "…Seriously."

"-I haven't found the keys and the amount of History and Math work you've got here is frightening."

After moving one last thing aside, he got up and dusted his pants a little. "I guess this is the end of the line. I haven't found a single thing on the floor, dressers or nightstands."

"It's okay. We could always have lunch and practice techniques for awhile until your father gets home and go out later."

"…That could work."

"Then we're set." she said while tip-toeing around the random stuff discarded on the floor. "I can't wait to have lunch; I'm starved."

Just as she went past him, he followed. "Same here."

Out of the corner of her eye, when she noticed that there wasn't even an inch distance between them after they'd gone past the door, Rinoa turned ever so subtly so that she could catch his gaze. She smiled appreciatively when his eyes met up with hers.

Bravely, she coiled her left arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. When he hadn't flinched at her touch or asked her to stop, she smiled even more, despite the fact he did not wrap his own arm around her waist. It was a start, but a good one nonetheless. Not to mention a short-lived one as well.

When the stairs came, Rinoa had to let go. A moment slipped by where she watched him descend the stairs without doing the same. _That strange glint must have distracted me_, she thought, hopping down a few steps a little later. _Yeah right._

…Hold on a second. _Strange glint?_

"Squall, could you stop and stay where you are for a moment?"

Now standing still on the last step of the stairway, he had a bemused look on his face. "Why?"

"_Cause–_" She hopped down a few more steps to where he was. "I've figured out your key dilemma."

If at all possible, Squall looked even more bemused. "…What are you talking about?"

Rinoa cast him a knowing look before she boldly dipped a hand into his left back pocket, pulled out the previously-missing keys and handed them to him.

"For someone who said they checked their pants, I think you missed a few pockets."

Now he looked absolutely flustered. "_I could have sworn I…ugh._" He placed a palm across his forehead and hung his head in what must have been shame. "_…Maybe I am related to him after all._" he muttered under his breath. "This is ridiculous."

She wrapped a comforting arm around his waist again. "Cheer up Squall. We all have an off day or moment at some point." He shot a look at her that strongly suggested that he disagreed with the whole idea of him having an _off_ moment. "_Or…_you can look on the bright side. At least we can get out now and make tasty chocolate-chip cookies later on."

"…Who said that I even had a sweet tooth?"

"Well… we _could_ buy the ingredients for lemon drop cookies if you're so adamant about being sour."

"…That was low. I was trying to make a joke there."

Rinoa lifted the hand she had on him and covered her mouth partially. "_…Oops._"

He coiled an arm around her waist and added, "…_I think you had an off moment_."

As they went down the last step, she pretended to pout. "Whatever."

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After a quick lunch and couple minutes' worth of driving and chronic radio station changing, the pair of teenagers arrived at the left-hand extremity of a orange-brick mall with green trimming all along the outside, otherwise referred to as_ 'the grocery store nearby'_. Stepping out of the passenger's side door, Rinoa looked towards the building and back to the driver's side. As Squall got out from the car, she couldn't help but to flock over to his side.

"Got the list?" she chirped. After digging through his pocket, he took out the small piece of paper and waved it in front of her face. She snapped it up gingerly. He shut and locked the door.

"Awesome." Rinoa abruptly changed her chipper tone after catching him roll his eyes. "And what's so wrong about saying the word _awesome_?"

"You missed the point altogether. You're excited for a piece of paper." he deadpanned. "Speaking of which, why did you make me write that list anyway? You already knew what you needed."

"'Cause it never hurts to have a backup." With the list now between her thumb and forefinger, Rinoa looked over it once more before she shifted her eyes onto him again. "-And I had to make you useful to this operation somehow." He arched an eyebrow. "Okay, I made you write this because your handwriting's a lot more legible than mine. Happy?"

"Very. So does that mean we can go in and get whatever it is you need now?"

"Might as well. It's what we came here to do after all."

'_I'd be lying if I said that's all what I had in mind but… you don't need to know that just yet Squall._'

As they walked on, the wind started to pick up all of a sudden and a couple of rain droplets landed on their faces. Rinoa took a gander at the heavens above and a random drop landed in her eye. Looking up was a bad idea.

'_Sure, ruin all of my plans why don't you… Guess I'll have to improvise._'

After passing through the automatic doors and entering the store itself, Rinoa took a small grocery basket from the stack of them past the store's initial left-side alcove used for herding all of its unused shopping carts and glanced around uncertainly. From where she was standing, the store looked enormous and it didn't make her feel any better about trying to attain her goal in a shorter span of time. One had to know the layout inside and out to be able to pull off such a feat.

A blink of an eye later and she was already scanning the surrounding area thoroughly. Soon she was doing this frantically, eventually breaking out in light sweat. Squall wasn't anywhere in immediate sight. Repetitive questions soon filled her head. The two most popular variations being, _'Where was he?'_ and _'Where did he go?'. _She quickly ditched the stationary deer-in-the-headlights position near the entrance in favour of a speed-walk paced search starting with what looked like a baked goods section in the far left corner.

A little while later, judging by a glance of the store's mounted clock, as she meandered through what seemed to be the last of the dozen uniform shelves stacked with many types, varieties and brands of dinner rolls and crusty breads along the far wall, Rinoa's light sweat turned into slight panic. She still hadn't found him after a good deal of searching and her breath became scarce, heavy with thought. What if he left altogether, thinking that she was somewhere else? Should she stay put in hopes that he'll come here or go look in a different department of the store? What if the General found her here, all alone like this? Or what if he found her with him? Was it even a smart idea to come in the first place?

'_No, no, no._' Rinoa reiterated inside her head, struggling to drown the alien negativity from her earlier thoughts. '_Coming here was and still is a good idea. I'm going to find Squall and I'm not going to see- __**Ooof!**_'

She practically collided into someone when she turned on a dime without looking. Opening her eyes again, her face reddened from the close proximity she was staring the other person in the eye. Unfortunately, it wasn't the intense steel-blue colour she'd been hoping to see, but rather a bright shade of emerald-green. Rinoa took a step back and silently withheld a gasp. Of all the people she could have bumped into, what were the odds of this encounter?

"-Long time no see Rinoa."

"Selphie," she chided light-heartedly, "-it's only been a couple of days."

"-I know but it's been soo boring at school. I could have sworn that time chose to compress itself while you were away."

"Well I doubt it could be _that_ boring."

"Trust me Rin, it was just as boring as I'm telling you." she repeated. "Well, maybe not Monday morning, but that's just about the only thing that wasn't."

A light instantly flicked on in Rinoa's brain. '_Squall and Seifer's fight._'

"Oh, what happened?" the raven-haired teenager asked, convincingly feigning ignorance.

"Well, I wasn't there so some of the details might be off but," Selphie paused momentarily to collect her thoughts. "-apparently there was a serious fight in that advanced S.D class of yours. And from what Quisty was telling me, two guys were actually going at it with their weapons and it got really violent. She didn't tell me who the two were though. Say, do you think Squall would tell me if I asked?"

At this point, Rinoa was straining to keep her obvious act believable.

"…I don't think so Selph."

"Yeah, you're probably right but if I see him, I don't think it would hurt to ask. I wonder if the school's being hush-hush about it so they don't get in trouble. Oh well. Anyways…how was your trip? Get to do anything fun?"

The teenager refrained from acting upon her strong inclination to take the nearest loaves of bread and hurl them violently against the walls inexorably and start screaming profanity-laced tirades at each and every innocent passerby.

"…_Yeah, I got to buy some neat stuff and see tons of great places._"

"That's good. Well I'd _better-_ Squall? Squall Leonhart, is that you?" Rinoa twisted her body the other way only to see her previously-lost boyfriend a stone's throw away, stopped cold in his tracks. She almost didn't notice that Selphie had continued to talk. "Wow, what are the odds?"

'_Good, he's not carrying any of the ingredients. Selphie won't bug him about that._'

"Hey, we were just talking about the fight that happened Monday morning and we were wondering if you happened to know who the two in it were."

If it was physically possible, Rinoa's jaw would have dropped ten feet, but since it wasn't, she settled for shifting her eyes rather uncomfortably.

'…_Oh_ _My._ _God.'_

Understandably so, after the question left Selphie's mouth, his posture tensed and he gained a slight glare in his eyes, his overall expression turning stern. However, in spite of this noticeable change in body language, Squall didn't quite look like his formerly-cold self in Rinoa's eyes. It was like a part of his past persona had left for good or that knowing him better as a person made it harder to think of him in that light anymore.

But whatever the case was, he still didn't look very amused with her.

"Well, that shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I happen to be one of them." he intoned dryly, crossing his arms. "And if you're still curious, the other idiot's Seifer."

The petite brunette's mouth went agape and, for the first time since Rinoa knew her, Selphie was practically rendered speechless.

"I- I- I'm sorry Squall. I didn't know. I…uh, _I have to go._"

And true to her word, she left like a hastened blur of yellow, bolting towards the opposite end of the store. The other shoppers left in her wake looked utterly flummoxed. Rinoa finally exhaled as she put a hand on her rapidly beating heart.

"Hyne, you took that a lot better than I thought. I was picturing Selphie's head on a pike for a moment back there."

"…What's done is done, there's nothing I can do about it." Squall uncrossed his arms and looked away for a second. "I have to learn to take the repercussions for what I did. And if that only means an awkward moment or two, count myself fortunate."

"That's a very mature approach Squall. Then again," she added with an emerging smile, "-I don't think you ever had an immature side to begin with."

"In case if you're attempting it, reverse psychology doesn't work on me."

"…_I wouldn't dream of it._ Now, while we're still reunited, you want to go with me to get the ingredients? I don't want to be toting this hand basket around for nothing."

After a quick nod, they were already off walking towards the aisle in question. And as luck wouldn't have it, it was the second to last aisle in the store, a lengthy walk away from the bakery section where they used to be.

Unfolding the crumpled list she had in her hand, Rinoa started reading off the things one by one.

"Flour." Before she got the chance to pick it off the shelf herself, Squall had already taken one of the smaller sizes from the bottom shelf and placed it into her basket. Rinoa arched an eyebrow. "…Feeling chivalrous today Squall?"

"Not really." he shrugged. "I'm just bored."

"Okay then. Vanilla, center left."

A second later and the tiny bottle of vanilla was conveniently nestled beside the bag of flour.

"-Check. Next thing I need is baking soda, top right."

He reached up, grabbed it and tossed the box in.

"Check." She pointed to a particular brand she wanted. "Chocolate chips, bottom right."

When it was in the basket, Rinoa looked up at him and beamed. "-Perfect. Now all I need is a Squall, do you know where I can find one of those?"

"…You might want to try outside. I think the wind and rain have gotten worse since we came inside."

She rolled her eyes at him. "…You shouldn't poke fun at your own name."

"…Well I can't help it if means _'violent storm'_, most of my family have water-based names. The only one who didn't was Ellone."

"Oh, what was your mother's name?"

"Raine."

"That's a nice name. As far as I know, my mother made mine up. At least I wasn't named Lenore like my father wanted. Hyne only knows I would have probably picked up the nickname Lenny at some point."

"…Lenny? That couldn't possibly be worse than _Squally_."

"Who calls you - _Ah nevermind." _They started walking down to the other end of the aisle. _"_So, is the theme just with you and your parents or does it extend to your other relatives too?"

"Both my parents didn't have any brothers or sisters so I don't have any aunts, uncles or cousins."

"What about your grandparents?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never met any of them."

"So is it safe to say you don't have any Storms, Tempests, Torrents, Oceans, Rivers or Clouds in your family tree?"

"As far as I know, there aren't any." Now they were the only ones in line at the first checkout. "I wouldn't say the same for out there though."

After she put the basket on the conveyor belt, Rinoa looked through the enormous windows past the cashiers' stations and saw the weather Squall had been referring to. The rain seemed to be coming down harder and the wind seemed to be blowing more aggressively, whipping errant carts in the parking lot here and there. And if she wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn that a lightning bolt or two had streaked across the sky just then.

"I see what you mean, it looks so miserable out there. If it were up to me, I'd rather stay inside the nice warm stores instead of running out to the car right now."

The cashier was now ringing the ingredients through and Rinoa was digging through her pockets for the Gil she was going to use to pay for it all, watching the total rise with each item the clerk scanned. She found the money in her back pocket.

"Was that a hint?"

"Depends on your stance in the matter." she replied wryly. "If you wanted to go as well, which I think you do, it's not a hint, it's a good idea that you'll say yes to. But if you didn't, it's still a good idea that you'll say yes to."

"You're _n-_"

"-_That'll be sixteen Gil._" the blonde cashier interjected. Rinoa handed her the exact amount and in turn, the girl gave her the filled bag along with the receipt. "_Thank you and come again._"

As they strolled past the checkout, Squall finished what he didn't get the chance to before. "…You're not giving me much of choice, are you?"

"I only said it that way because deep down, I know you want to go."

"Fine, I'll go on one condition."

"Name it."

"Stop using this reverse psychology crap."

"That's funny. I seem to recall you saying that you were immune to it."

"…_Then I guess I'm not._" he muttered underneath his breath.

Rinoa glowed with self-satisfaction. "Alright then, let's go!"

And before he had a chance to mentally prepare himself, she'd already grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the store. Her plan was back on track.

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"…So why are we in here again?"

"-To take four of the most ridiculous photos in your life. It's like a very important rite of passage in any relationship."

"Sounds more like blackmail material if you ask me."

"Oh hush." she chastised him light-heartedly and pulled him closer to her. "The photo booth will start taking the pictures a few seconds after I put the Gil in so be ready for it."

"…I can't believe you're being serious about this."

She conveniently ignored this comment.

"Okay, I'm putting the Gil in…now."

A faint metallic _'clink'_ was heard after Rinoa inserted the coin and just before the first flash came, she stuck out her tongue and put her hands beside her ears, wiggling them.

_Flash. Click! _

For the second photo, she put moved her left hand behind his head and bunny-eared him. He must have caught wind of this because he gave her a very peculiar look. She still had the bunny ears behind him though.

_Flash. Click! _

Right after the second flash had gone off, she stopped doing bunny ears behind him and extended her right index up in the air and put it right in front of her, making it look like she was pointing at a falling star. She smiled warmly.

_Flash. Click! _

When the booth had taken the third photo, Rinoa coiled both her arms around him into a hug, placing her head on his shoulder. She felt him shift a little but she wasn't quite sure where he'd shifted.

_Flash. Click! _

"-Now was that _so_ bad?"

"…_I guess not._" he answered truthfully. "I wouldn't be surprised if the pictures didn't turn out though."

She released him from the hug. "Nonsense, I'm sure they turned out fine."

A minute or two later, the four-panel strip of photos slowly started to spit out, or in this case, drool out of another opening right beside the Gil slot. Once it was out completely, Rinoa snatched the photo before Squall even had the chance to even _think_ of taking it. As she looked at each shot individually, her smile grew exponentially with each one.

They were perfect.

She put the strip right in front of his eyes. "Here, take a look."

Carefully taking the strip from her, they glanced over the shots together.

In the first two shots, their respective poses meshed nicely with each other, contrasting their usual personalities beautifully. When they'd taken the first photo where she'd stuck out her tongue and wiggled her hands, he had his eyes closed and his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, conveying his mock-annoyance with a dash of secret amusement perfectly. Whether he would admit or not, she noticed that he had the tiniest of smirks in that photo.

As for the second photo, the bunny ears behind his head made him look oddly adorable in her opinion. The fact that he didn't look the least bit amused about it made him look even more so.

The third and fourth shots had a different quality to them, as they reflected the fact they were a couple more than the previous frames. Although she wasn't going to explicitly tell him this, Rinoa absolutely adored the way they turned out; they brought out and displayed the side nobody else knew about him, the side he was slowly trying to show to the world.

In the third frame, he'd actually made it look like there'd been a star in the booth with the way he tilted his head curiously and the expression on his face.

However, despite the nicely-done preceding pictures, Rinoa found that the last picture was the arguably the best. When she had hugged him during the last interval between flashes, she hadn't realized that the movement she'd felt wasn't just a simple shift in footing or something trivial like that, Squall had actually moved his head and tilted downward, making it look like he was watching over her protectively as she smiled serenely. This subtle shift made all the difference and it made her love it with all her heart. It was exactly the sort of thing that typified who he was inside, the gentle soul dwelling within the icy walls he used to hide himself in.

"…_Do you like them?_" she asked.

He looked at her with the identical gaze he had in the last picture and handed it back to her. "They're…nice."

She nodded. "That they are. You want to get out of this booth?"

"Sure."

'_You know, for a plan that backfired horribly, you still took a really nice photo without smiling or laughing Squall._'

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

After aimlessly walking past the various stores and stands for the last little while, Rinoa finally found a store with the potential of breaking his lifelong laugh-less spell. Ever since she'd read his list the other day, the only goal she'd set for herself on their day off was to hear him laugh, regardless of how ridiculous her attempts would have to be in order to break him.

And looking at the sign above her head, Rinoa felt pretty good about her odds.

"Come in with me Squall, I want to go in here."

He took a brief look inside the store. "You want to go in a pet shop?"

"Yeah, I'm going to get a collar and leash for you. _Naah,_ I'm just kidding, I want to look at the puppies."

"…I almost thought you were being serious there."

"Nope. Now let's go inside."

She took his hand and guided him past the front shelves to the back where she saw a couple of puppies, rabbits, birds and kittens in large cages in the relatively-small shop. When they were in front of the cage full of puppies, Rinoa let go of him and crouched down to get a better look at them. Nearly all of the pups scampered to the side of the cage she was beside, yipping and yapping happily, some trying to put their paws through the spaces between the metal bars.

"Well, would you look at that? They love me." She turned her head towards him. "Isn't that cute?"

Standing upright with his hands in his pockets, Squall leaned over slightly to see better. Rinoa nearly had a heart attack when he did this sort of half-smile.

"Maybe they want the ingredients in your bag."

She shot him a rather indignant look. "And _why_ couldn't it possible that they just so happen to like me? You like me."

"…I'm not a dog Rinoa."

"That's not what I meant." She got up from her crouching position and the puppies went back to what they were doing before. Then, with supernatural timing, a female clerk came out of nowhere.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you two with today?"

"No, not really." Rinoa answered truthfully. "We were just looking at the blackish-brown puppies."

The clerk pointed to the cage in question. "Oh, those puppies? We just got them from the breeders a few days ago, lively little things. Would you like to hold one?"

'_Oh, this is perfect. Hehe…_'

"Sure, I'd love to." She set down the bag she'd been holding and moved a little to give the clerk room to get one of the puppies from the cage and take it out. It wasn't long before one was in her arms. "Would you like to hold the puppy after me Squall?"

He shrugged. "…I've never held one before."

"It's not hard. I'll even help put him in your arms."

"Actually," the clerk cut in, "the puppy you're holding is female. _-And_ I'll be back in a moment, there's something at the front I have to attend to."

"Oh, okay." When the girl had left, Rinoa corrected herself in a mocking tone. "-I'll even help put _her_ in your arms."

"…Maybe later."

As the puppy started licking her in random places and squirming around in her arms, the teenager tried her best to stay put and not laugh. If she was less ticklish than he was and the dog was having this much of an effect on her already, his not-laughing streak was as good as broken. Attempting to divert the attention from her arms, Rinoa tried to make conversation.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, if you- if you had a dog, what would you name it?"

"Me? I'd name it No."

"_No?_ Wouldn't that- wouldn't that be confusing to the poor- poor dog?"

"That's exactly why I'd name it No."

"You're such a meany Squall. If I had- If I had a dog, I'd name her Angelo."

"…Why Angelo?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just the first name that came to min_d-_" The puppy licked the crook of her elbow and it took all the willpower she had to not drop the dog or burst out laughing. "._..Did you want to hold her now?_"

"…Do I have a choice?"

Rinoa walked over to where he was and more or less deposited the dog in his arms. "-_Not really._"

Strangely enough, the puppy curled up against his one arm and closed her eyes.

'_Oh, I don't believe this._'

"Geeze Squall, do you have puppy chloroform in your pockets? That puppy wouldn't stop fidgeting in my arms no what matter what I did."

When he momentarily glanced at the sleeping dog nestled in his arms for a moment, the clerk came back. "Aw, looks like somebody's all tuckered out." she cooed. "You want me to take her back?"

Squall didn't hesitate for an instant to give the dog back to the girl. Meanwhile, Rinoa picked up the bag she'd left on the floor, trying to mask the disappointment stemming from the failure of her once-thought foolproof plan.

"You want to go now Squall?"

"Yeah."

At this point, the clerk had finished putting back the puppy in its cage. "Hm. That's weird." She turned around to face both of them, more specifically towards Squall. "The puppy you were holding woke up and started running around the very instant I placed her back in the cage."

"I know." Rinoa piped in with a smirk. "When I was holding her, she wouldn't stop squirming around and licking me but the very moment I put her in his arms, she fell asleep. Talk about an odd coincidence."

Both girls looked at him and the clerk wistfully sighed. "If only I had that kind of talent. I think it would come in handy, especially with the bunch we have here now. Oh well, I suppose it could have something to do with body chemistry."

"You hear that Squall? You're a natural at making things fall asleep."

He ignored this quip. "Rinoa, we should go now."

"Okay." She turned towards the clerk for a second. "Thank you for letting us hold the puppy."

"No problem. Have a good day now."

"We will."

After the pleasantries were exchanged, Rinoa found herself having to do a little catch up to be at his side again. Even then, he wasn't exactly making it easy for her to maintain that position.

"Slow down Squall, I can't walk that fast. I don't have your long legs."

She nearly went a mile past him after he stopped on the dime near the center court fountain, not too far from the grocery store where they'd originally entered the mall.

Rinoa sat herself down on the large fountain's edge and put down the bag. "Hyne, I'm winded." When he sat right beside her on the ledge, she looked over at him. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"What, the part where you were calling me a meany for wanting to call a dog No or the part where you said I had a knack for making things fall asleep?"

She put the back of her free hand on her forehead and wobbled her body melodramatically.

"_Oh, I feel so drowsy all of a sudden…oh…_"

Squall rolled his eyes. "That's not funny Rinoa."

"_I wouldn't say that Leonhart. It seemed pretty funny to me._"

Straightaway, Rinoa stopped her sleepy act and both teenagers got up and whipped their heads to the source of the voice. She wished that the emerald-green eyes they were both staring at belonged to Selphie, but the wish was in vain; the speaker was a little too tall and blond for it to be possible.

"Seifer, will you please leave us alone?" she implored. "I don't want trouble."

Instead of acknowledging her request, Seifer kept his focus on Squall. "Still having her fight your battles, eh Squall?"

"She's not fighting my battles." he countered in a low tone. "She just doesn't want any trouble. And neither do I."

"_Tch._ What do you think I am, stupid? I wouldn't pick a fight in a public mall. Last time I checked, you're not exactly worth getting arrested over."

Squall snorted. "And yet you'll get us both kicked out of class and suspended just for the chance to provoke me? I think you've taken too many footballs to the head."

"…_Squall, don't give him a reason to start anything."_ She near-silently mouthed to him. Unfortunately, Seifer must have heard every word that escaped from her lips because he instantly turned his attention onto what she said.

"_If I was you, I'd take her advice Squall,_" he said mockingly, "-Hyne only knows _you_ can't afford a _second _set of injuries after what happened Monday."

He glared at the taller teenager. "If you're trying to get her to ask about the fight, don't bother. She already knows about what happened and I have nothing to hide anymore ...Nor do I have anything to gain by staying here. Rinoa, lets go."

Shortly hearing those words, Rinoa picked up her grocery bag from the fountain's ledge and started to walk away from the scene with him. But apparently, their attempt at a collective departure made little difference.

"You're actually acknowledging her for a change? That's a switch. I thought you were planning on coasting on the cold and indifferent bastard route."

Instead of his desired target, Rinoa was the one who stopped dead in her tracks, abruptly turning to face him. "Cold and indifferent bastard? As far as I'm concerned, the only one who qualifies for that title is standing right in front of me."

"Rinoa," She felt Squall's protective hand gripping her shoulder, "-don't do this."

Rinoa twisted back to look him in the eye. "No, I have to say this now Squall. I hope you'll understand." She turned to face the blond again. "Seifer, I've had just about enough of your constant interfering in my and Squall's life. If there's any part of the decent person I used to know that's still in there, you'll leave us be. You're not winning points with me by doing this, nor will you ever. What used to be will _never_ happen again."

"…_What used to be?_"

Rinoa's eyes widened. '_Oh dear Hyne…why did I say that?_'

"_-Didn't you know Leonhart?_" Seifer intoned bitterly, "I guess she didn't have the nerve to tell you, judging from your clueless expression."

He turned towards her. "-Tell me what?"

Crossing his arms, Seifer regained his smug look. "Go ahead and _tell _him Rinoa. Tell your _boyfriend_ the truth."

"I_…I…_" Rinoa shifted her eyes back and forth frantically, trying to think of some way to break this bombshell to him in the least painful way as possible. She sighed in defeat and looked at him square in the eye; there was no way to sugar-coat this truth. "_…I'm _sorry if this isn't something you'll want to hear Squall, but, you… _this_ wasn't the first serious relationship I've had. Two years ago…I was with _him_."

Right after admitting this previously-hidden secret to him, watching his expression slip into something reminiscent of his former self was almost too painful to endure. Rinoa couldn't keep her eyes on him, wondering about what could be going through his mind right now, so instead, she channelled all of her frustrations and turmoil into one strong glare at Seifer, who looked like he was ready to leave after getting his desired reaction out of Squall.

_No_, it couldn't end this way, not after all they'd been through.

'_I'm not going to let you win Seifer. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of ruining what we have._'

"But_…it doesn't matter._" she added with newfound courage. "It's nothing more than a past chapter in my life that started and ended two years ago."

Both Squall and Seifer darted their heads in her direction, their respective attentions caught by the raven-haired girl's words. _This is it;_ she thought to herself, _I have to say what needs to be said right now. _She took a deep breath and set down her bag.

"Seifer, if all you're trying to do is hurt Squall by using our past, it's not going to work. If he would have asked me if I had any previous relationships, I would have told him, and you know why?" She paused for effect. "Because I would have made it crystal clear that you're not the one I have feelings for or the one I care about, he is. I could _never_ love the despicable monster you've become."

Rinoa solemnly lowered herself to pick up her bag before mustering the courage to look into the azure eyes of the adolescent standing beside her. "Squall_…I'm sorry if I upset you." _Her voice cracked under the intense weight of his gaze. _"If_…if you find it in your heart to forgive me, I'll be waiting for you elsewhere. _If not_…I'll understand."

And with that, she left without another word.

…Or she would have, if not for Squall's hand on her wrist preventing her from going any further.

After being gently pulled back by his grip, a moment ensued where he said nothing and she was trying to decipher the machinations behind his intense and complex gaze, acutely studying every facet. But before she could have possibly begun to crack the code, he shifted his line of vision away from her and eyed Seifer for a long second, his unreadable facial expression subtly lightening but his stare never wavering. Then, with an equal amount of unpredictability, he left.

-_However,_ seeing as his hand was still latched onto hers, she did too. It wasn't long before the fountain was out of sight and she had to know what was going on.

"Squall, are you…_okay?_"

He stopped right then and there and faced her.

"…_I'm not mad at you if that's what you're really asking._"

She blinked. "You're _…not?_"

"No." He hesitated for a second. "…_I'm mad at myself._"

Rinoa tilted her head curiously. "Why?"

He looked at her through a sullen gaze. "…He got the better of me _again._"

"Squall, I hardly think that walking away means he got the '_better of-_"

"_-No,_" he interjected, "-I meant my reaction after he made you confess to the _past_ you used to have with him. It wasn't even a split-second later before doubts clouded my mind. …I let him get the reaction he wanted."

"_Hey_…listen to me," Standing directly in front of him, she lifted his chin using her free hand, "-I know that just about any guy in your position would have had the same reaction and drawn the same conclusions, but, I also know that very few of them would have stuck around long enough to listen to me after like you did."

He moved her hand aside. "…Still, this shouldn't have bothered me like it did. Or maybe it was naïve to assume I was your first for anything."

Rinoa's ears perked up at this admission._ 'Oh…So __**that's**__ what this is what it's about.'_

"Squall, although I can't read your mind like some kind of sorceress, I think your brain _might_ have inferred a little _more_ than necessary here."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "_…What are you talking about?_"

"_Well…_" she drawled playfully, "Can you keep a secret?"

After he nodded rather hesitantly, Rinoa took one step closer with a big smile on her face, tightening the distance between them.

"As far as anything physical goes, you've already one-upped Seifer."

He looked at her in disbelief. "…You're kidding."

"Nope, I swear to Hyne that I've never even kissed him. The furthest I ever went was give him a hug, not to mention an awkward one at that."

"…Then I guess I made an even better decision not to go through with what I was thinking of earlier."

She smirked at him mischievously. "_…And what was that Squall?_"

He grimaced. "You're not going to believe me when I tell you. Hell…I don't even believe me."

"Lemme guess, you were going to…take my grocery bag, throw flour in his face, douse him in vanilla and pelt chocolate chips in his eyes to make him sweet for a change?"

"Has anyone told you that you've got a warped sense of humour?"

"All the time Squall, all the time." she joshed. "But seriously, what was it you were thinking of? You've got me really curious now."

His grimace turned into a rarely-seen sheepish look. "-Promise not to hold this against me?"

"Yes."

"Right after I held your arm to stop you from leaving, I…for some reason, I had the strongest inclination to…I don't know, prove what he accused me of was wrong."

Subsequent to reading between the lines and navigating through the shrouds and veils of his vague wording, she giggled out loud once she figured out what he actually meant.

"In other words, you wanted to kiss me in front of him like the hormonal train wreck you are."

"-I think I prefer my way of phrasing it."

"Fair enough, but why didn't you go through with it? I think he could have used a taste of his own medicine for all he's done to you."

"It's the principle of the matter. I'd be stooping to his level and I'd be using you like some kind of peon in our demented game. You shouldn't be dragged into this any more than you already are."

Rinoa nodded. "I understand what you mean now and I appreciate the fact that you restrained your teenage urges."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "-Was that meant to be sarcastic?"

She failed at containing a couple of snickers. "Aah… it was meant to be about half-and-half. So are you ready to go home and be my baking assistant? No poofy hats, I swear."

"…Sure."

"Before we leave though, I have to tell you one more thing."

He nodded.

"You know that one Friday where I helped you with your homework?"

"Yes."

"You gave me my first kiss that day."

If Rinoa didn't know any better, she could have sworn he was embarrassed judging by his newfound inability to keep a neutral face.

'_It may not be a laugh, but I'll take it all the same._'

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"Okay, I'm going to repeat myself just to make sure we got everything we needed in the mixing bowl already."

He nodded.

"Single cup margarine and white sugar?"

"Yes."

"Half a cup brown sugar and two eggs?"

"...I remember putting the sugar in there and cracking the eggs."

"One and a half teaspoon vanilla, one teaspoon baking soda and half a teaspoon salt?"

"All in."

"Two and a quarter cup flour and the whole bag of chocolate chips?" He nodded again. "Perfect. You can turn the mixer on now."

"Okay." He turned the dial, making sure to slowly augment the setting in little increments.

_...zzz...zzz..zzzz...Z.z.zzZzzzZ...Zzzzzt- _

"Uh, Squall, you might want to move the dial past half away so that it gets mixed faster."

"Sure."

_ZzZzZZZ__T__**...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!**_

_**-PO**__**OOF!**_

_Z__zzzt..._

He turned to the side and wheezed and coughed out bits of wet flour, keeping one eye closed. "Faster.._**-cough-**_._.huh?_"

"Squall, I'm so _pfft_...so so sorry!" Rinoa couldn't help but burst out laughing at his demise. Well, maybe she was slowly killing herself with chronic oxygen-stealing laughter because his entire face was covered in flour and random baking ingredients rather than his demise per se. "Oh Hyne, you should.._.pfft haha_, look at yourself._..aha._.."

Looking at the nearby fridge's semi-reflective metal surface, he must have finally caved in the absurdity because he did something Rinoa truthfully thought he'd never do in a thousand years.

He laughed. And it was music to her ears.

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**End of Chapter Comments ****– **Wow, isn't this cool? I'm updating on Squall's actual birthday! Isn't it creepy that judging from the game's release, he'd be about 25? Gah, I have no life. Oh well. Hope you guys enjoyed the super-long chapter and didn't mind the wait.

_-Emerald-Latias_


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